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Police are investigating a violent confrontation between a 15-year-old high school student and her teacher yesterday which left both seeking medical treatment.
While Waitara High School in Taranaki has accused the pupil of assaulting the teacher, the girl's father has claimed the teacher was in the wrong.
The schoolgirl has been suspended.
High School principal Jenny Gellen said the teacher involved had sustained serous injuries and the event had traumatised teachers and students.
"She (the girl) shoved the teacher and continued to shove the teacher to the point she actually knocked the teacher to the ground and the teacher was on her back on the floor with the student thumping her," Ms Gellen told the Taranaki Daily News.
"That's when the teacher grabbed the student by the head...and tried to get her to the ground."
Ms Gellen said the confrontation began after the student refused to remove non-regulation socks. She then had other pieces of clothing confiscated and became angry while trying to retrieve them from behind the teacher.
At home yesterday, the student told the paper she had cuts and bruises, and was now wearing a neck brace.
The girl and her father said the school had not handled the incident well and the teacher should be held responsible.
"Teachers are supposed to have self-control. Excessive force has been used here by a grown-up on a minor and it doesn't matter where it's going to go, I'm going to take this adult to court," her father said.
Ms Gellen said the student's future at the school would be decided after a board of trustees hearing early next week.
- NZPA
