A Wesley College student struck another pupil repeatedly with a length of wood until it broke across his legs and a video of the attack was then posted to social media.
Content warning: This story contains accounts of violence and images of injuries
The video is one of three seen by 1News which show senior students at the troubled Auckland school beating other students in incidents between 2021 and March 2023.
Read more: Wesley College abuse survivor breaks silence
Multiple Wesley College students told 1News the style of the beating is dubbed a "Punou" (to bow or bend over) and is a common punishment senior students dish out to younger students.
One of the victims, who 1News has agreed to call Paul, said he was "punou'd" for making a small mistake.
In a video of the incident, seen by 1News, a senior student uses a tree branch or stick that appears more than 1m long and about 6cm thick.
After striking Paul several times, the senior student can be heard saying, "Why you shaking? Last one, last one," but continues to strike repeatedly.
The stick eventually breaks, but the senior student continues the beating.
The video shows three strikes, but a witness said he was struck 12 times.
1News was sent the video by other Wesley College students after reporting on historical violence at the special character Methodist school.
The school has garnered attention after former students appeared at the ongoing Royal Commission of Inquiry into the abuse of young people in state and faith-based care.
The video of Paul being beaten shows someone else in the room. One pupil said at least 14 other students were in the room when he was beaten.
"Some of them had their heads down. Whenever the stick hit (Paul), they were like, closing their eyes," he said.
"I could see in their faces they felt bad. They were just looking at the floor."
The student said Paul was left with bruises all over his legs, but he didn't tell anyone.
"The saying is, 'At Wesley, snitches get stitches,'" the student told 1News.
"Right now, I shouldn't be telling, but it's the right thing to do."
A student sent the school the video after it was posted on social media.
Paul's parents said they were shocked when the school contacted them but said they were not told the full extent of the violence shown in the video.
"Even now, I don't think I could watch the video," Paul's mother said.
“It would break my heart that I put my son in this position
"It would break my heart that I put my son in this position and nobody cared enough to stop it and, even worse, nobody cared enough to stop it from happening again and again in the future to others."
Paul's parents said they understood that privileges would be removed from the student who beat their son. They also understood that the student would be expelled.
1News understands the student remained at the school until the end of that school year.
Wesley College would not comment on the specific incident.
'An institutional problem'
"We handled this situation based on an understanding that this was a one-off situation and with the trust that the school would follow through and take affirmative corrective action," Paul's mother said.
"Now we know it was in fact an institutional problem and that they did not follow through on their commitment to us."
Paul said there were some great teachers at Wesley, however he believed they knew about the violence.
"I love the school. The school's done a lot for me but you know, the violence isn't OK.
"In the Bible, it says love one another, love your enemies. When you go to Wesley, you're not repping any gangs or stuff, you're just one family.
"I hope in the future it will stop because it's not alright."
Other former students, who recently left Wesley, told 1News it was normal to be physically assaulted by older students for making small mistakes.
Two current students said it was still occurring.
1News decided not to identify those students for safety reasons.
A former prefect, who attended the school in recent years, said "coverings" — where younger students were made to cover their faces before being punched, kicked and slapped by older students — occurred almost weekly.
He said staff knew that "coverings" and "punou" beatings were happening.
He also described a cycle of abuse where students who were once victims of bullying and abuse became perpetrators in their senior years.
There was a code of silence about the violence that many wanted to break but if students spoke up, they were further targeted, he said.
"If you break that code of silence, it is like you have a big red dot on your head. Everyone would just not look at you the same," he said.
“It was normal to see kids with broken teeth, bruises, black eyes or limping
Four students confirmed to 1News a game called Manhunt was played at night about once a week. Senior students would hunt younger students. If they were caught, they were beaten.
One said "it was normal to see kids with broken teeth, bruises, black eyes or limping after Manhunt".
"Our children deserve better," Paul's mother said.
"We entrust our children to the school believing with every inch of our being that they will be safe there — it is a basic human right.
"Yet this trust has been broken on so many levels and we are left to pick up the pieces — our own in terms of guilt for not realising... and those of our children."
The school asked Paul and the student who beat him to speak at a school assembly the following year to talk about the incident, in the hope that it would bring some change, Paul's mother said.
"We said an unequivocal 'no' to this. Making our son the poster boy for forgiveness rather than initiating a well-planned longtitudinal approach to stamp out bullying in the school is ineffective and underwhelming given the seriousness of the issue.
"It also demonstrates a flippant attitude that we find offensive."
The family of another student told 1News he was physically assaulted in a "covering" incident in the past two weeks.
Allegations put to school
1News put a range of allegations to the school, including the videos and the recent "covering" allegation. Acting principal Chris Wood said the school could not comment on allegations about individuals.
"We encourage anyone who has experienced the behaviours by a staff member or student detailed in your email to report the matter to the Police, and if they wish, Wesley College's Board of Trustees and/or Principal so that we can investigate."
The school investigated whenever it received complaints about student-on-student violence and was willing to appoint an external independent investigator, in relation to the most serious misconduct allegations, Wood said.
"[The School] is embracing a journey of change around what is acceptable today in New Zealand society. We are making huge progress and have never shied away from our responsibilities.
"We understand, after decades, just how much work we must do, but we are extremely happy with progress to date and see 2023 as a watershed moment in time."
1News put a range of allegations to the Education Review Office (ERO) which included the recent videos and "covering" allegations as well as some other unrelated incidents. ERO said it was "deeply concerned" about the number of allegations raised by 1News.
"All allegations of abuse are serious and need to immediately be reported to the Police and the appropriate authorities.
"Where it involves a registered teacher, the school board must also report this to the Teaching Council if it has reason to believe that a teacher has engaged in serious misconduct or a possible breach of the Code of Professional Responsibility by a registered teacher under the Education and Training Act 2020."
ERO also said it was aware an ongoing police investigation is underway. 1News understands the investigation is unrelated to the student-on-student abuse incidents.
“[The School] is embracing a journey of change
ERO was undertaking a special review of the school and hostel provisions, after the Ministry of Education briefly revoked the school's hostel license in December.
"This special review has been initiated by the Chief Review Officer as a result of the significant concerns that we have of the school and the hostel," it said.
"The school board and hostel management of Wesley College have a duty of care to ensure all learners at the school and all boards in the hostel are provided with a physically and emotionally safe environment."
The Royal Commission of Inquiry also said that since a 1News story on Wesley College was published in March, it had received an influx of survivor registrations related to the school.
"Wesley has so much to offer the community," Paul's parents said.
"We pray for all the students past and present who have been impacted by bullying and violence, and we pray that they will find their way back to their Wesleyan values, which is not the 'Wesley Way' that currently defines the school."
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