Violent bullying caught on camera at Western Heights High School in Rotorua

A video of violent bullying at a Rotorua high school has quickly gone viral, attracting the wrath of people online.

The video, which shows a Western Heights High School student being kicked in the head by another student, was uploaded last night and has been viewed 14,000 times, shared more than 200 times and garnered more than 250 comments in less than 12 hours.

The video shows three boys approaching another student who is seated, before one of the students kicks the seated boy in the head.

The kicked student falls backwards off the seat. Another student can be seen filming, or taking photos of the incident on an iPad.

In a written statement, a Western Heights High School spokeswoman said the staff and students were appalled by the incident, which they called a serious assault.

"Our Board of Trustees have been notified of this incident and are following the Ministry of Education disciplinary guidelines," the statement said.

"We have used school assemblies to send out strong messages about appropriate behaviour and we are proud of those students who intervened to prevent further harm to the victim.

"We share the concern about the level of violence being used by young people today, and would like reassure our school community that the safety of our students is our number one priority."

The spokeswoman confirmed the incident happened yesterday at lunchtime. She was unaware whether the victim's family had contacted police.

The school would not comment further on disciplinary measures for privacy reasons.

Police have been approached for comment.