Armed pupil returns to classroom

Waiuku College. Photo / Chris Loufte

A Waiuku College student who threatened a classmate with a kitchen knife is to return to school this week after just a five-day suspension.

The Year 11 student pulled the knife from his bag in an English class after another student began taunting him.

A female teacher who stepped in between the two boys has been left traumatised by the incident, according to staff.

The boy was suspended at a board of trustees meeting last Monday.

A teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the school was placing teachers in danger, and some feared for their safety.

Yesterday, the mother of the suspended student said the issue was "all sorted".

In 2007, 200 Waiuku College students staged a walkout after two of the three students who attacked 16-year-old student Slade Butler were back in class only two days after being stood down.

Nine months later, student Dylan Keen's jaw was shattered when he was "king hit" by a fellow Waiuku College student.

Principal Tom Vanderlaan said he had spent the past three years trying to rebuild public confidence in the school and that negative publicity around the knife incident would undo that work. He said he would be meeting with the suspended boy's parents on Monday.

Board chairman Geoff Mercer could not be reached for comment. The Herald on Sunday has chosen to not publish either boy's name.