Classroom horror: 'Blood was everywhere'

Photo / Martin Sykes

As blood dripped from stab wounds inflicted by one of his students, maths teacher Steve Hose yelled at the rest of his class to get out.

The 53-year-old, the popular head of Te Puke High School's mathematics department, was about to start class at 11am with his Year 9 students when one of them, a 13-year-old boy, attacked him with a 10cm kitchen knife.

He was stabbed twice in the back of his neck and twice in the shoulder.

"It just happened completely out of the blue," said a girl in the classroom at the time.

"Mr Hose was moving towards the front of the class and there was a lot of blood dripping everywhere ... He [the boy] was following him. Mr Hose told us to get out, so we did."

Western Bay of Plenty police area commander Inspector Mike Clement said the boy dropped the knife in the classroom before he left. He was caught shortly afterwards.

Mr Hose remained conscious as other teachers and students went to his aid.

"I think it would be hard to describe it as anything other than a very vicious attack," said Mr Clement. "I mean, four stab wounds to the neck and shoulder on anybody is vicious."

A teaching colleague attended to Mr Hose's wounds but he was still bleeding heavily and in pain when St John paramedics arrived.

Mr Clement said the boy - who because of his age cannot be charged with a criminal offence - had been co-operative with police who questioned him.

Last night, he was in police custody but is to go to a Child, Youth and Family caregiver pending a family conference.

Mr Clement would not comment on the boy's background.

Shocked students said Mr Hose, a Te Puke High teacher for eight years, was well liked.

"I heard from one of my mates about it and thought, 'You're all s***', and then we saw the ambulance pull up," said one boy, who gave his first name as Brent.

Te Puke High principal Alan Liddle said the stabbing was the first he had seen in 16 years of teaching in the Western Bay.

He said Victim Support and a traumatic response team from Group Special Education had been in to offer support to the affected students and at least seven teachers.

Mr Liddle said the school would look at improving its security. "We need to learn what's happened here and we need to put steps in place."

Mr Hose was discharged from Tauranga Hospital early yesterday evening.

Kate Gainsford, national president of the Post Primary Teachers Association, said she was shocked by the Te Puke attack.

"It raises the same issues it has raised before and unfortunately, as far as I can see, there are the same unsatisfactory answers to questions raised the last time there was a stabbing."

A behaviour summit in March last year involving psychiatrists, social workers, teachers, youth workers and police led to a behaviour action plan being released.

But Ms Gainsford said little progress was made because the plan didn't address early intervention.

She wanted to see schools having access to clinical psychologists so students could be referred to experts rather than teachers who dealt with issues that really required specialist intervention.

Assaults on teachers

* 238 students were stood down in 2008 for physical assaults on teachers.

* 442 teachers needed treatment after assaults at school during 2008 and 2009, costing $413,000.

* The most expensive individual claim was for $124,000.

* In March last year, 17-year-old Tae Won Chung stabbed teacher David Warren in the back in front of 20 other students at Avondale College. He was jailed for 18 months and ordered to pay $10,000 to his victim.

(Source: Ministry of Education and ACC)