A rising rugby star who dreams of playing for the All Blacks is at the centre of a poaching row between two top private schools.

Student Tae Won Chung stabbed his teacher after being goaded about his fear of North Korea and returning home to military training, a court hears.

A 17-year-old Auckland student will appeal a jail term handed down today for stabbing his teacher in the back in class.

Armed police were called to a dairy in Hamilton after a group of film students were mistaken for robbers.

Five students have had their rugby dreams restored after an appeal committee overturned "manifestly excessive" playing bans for a violent brawl.

Five students from Auckland's Kelston Boys High School banned from playing rugby for their part in a brawl with rival Auckland Grammar School players have had their sentences drastically reduced.

Canterbury student leaders turn the key off for the infamous Canterbury car rally to Dunedin.

Only 2 per cent of high schools are ready for an extensive overhaul of the national curriculum in five months, a report says.

The University of Otago says it will come down hard on students whose "loutish behaviour" at the weekend threatened its reputation.

The mother of a Tokoroa boy critically injured in a hit-and-run attack says the town is a safe place to live despite the attack.

Mother claims son had his entire body run over and was left with tyre marks on his back.

Police have charged 67 people following the riots in Dunedin over the weekend as the Undie 500 event came to town.

An 18-year-old Rotorua man faces attempted murder charges after a Tokoroa boy was chased and run over.