Teacher charged with assaulting child at Queenstown school

The teacher has been granted interim name suppression and is expected to appear in the Queenstown District Court next week.

A teacher at a primary school in Queenstown has been charged with assaulting a child at the school.

The Ministry of Education confirmed yesterday it received a complaint in December about the alleged incident.

The accused, who has been granted interim name suppression by a registrar, is expected to appear in the Queenstown District Court next Monday on a Crimes Act charge of assaulting a child.

The ODT understands the incident occurred at a school event in November. The school stood down the teacher the following month, and the child is no longer attending the school.

In a statement, ministry deputy secretary sector enablement and support Katrina Casey said it was supporting the school, and was satisfied it was taking the matter seriously.

"All students deserve to feel safe at school. We take incidents of violence very seriously, and we expect schools to have clear policies and procedures in place to manage this.

"As this matter is under investigation it is inappropriate for us to comment further.''

The school's board of trustees chairman declined to comment.