Three Christchurch schools have confirmed their students were present during a large brawl in North New Brighton on Friday.

Footage shows multiple schoolboys fighting on Bower Avenue, near the Travis Road intersection, just after 4pm.

The fight spilled onto the road, stopping traffic.

St Thomas of Canterbury College and Shirley Boys’ High School have both confirmed students were among those involved in the fighting, while Te Aratai College said a small number of its students were bystanders.

St Thomas principal Steve Hart issued a statement on Tuesday.

“We are investigating Friday’s incident involving a group of youths. Three students from St Thomas were part of a larger group of youths that were involved in an incident. We are undertaking an investigation and liaising with wider networks, we take such matters very seriously,” Hart said.

Shirley Boys’ High School principal Tim Grocott issued an updated statement.

“There was an incident on Friday afternoon involving Shirley Boys’ High School students in a fight on Bower Avenue. This is a serious matter, and our staff have spent the last few days establishing exactly what happened. We will work through our disciplinary processes for those students involved. We are deeply concerned about the severity of the incident, and have been working with the Police,” Grocott said.

“While it is a disappointing and embarrassing matter for Shirley Boys’ High School, what is clear is that the fight involved a number of people from a range of schools and is not just a school issue, but a youth issue as well. The schools involved are working collectively to address the matter. We are concerned by the impact of social media on this incident, and its ability to fuel challenging situations for young people.”

“While this incident took place away from school and outside of school hours, and involved a comparatively small number of students, we hold our 1300 boys to high standards of conduct and expect them to positively reflect Shirley Boys’ High School and our values. The majority of students continue to demonstrate respect, responsibility, and a positive commitment to the school values and the community.”

Te Aratai College principal Maria Lemalie-Herbert said a small number of the school’s students were present but were not involved in the fighting.

“We are aware of the incident on Bower Avenue on Friday evening. A small number of our students were there as bystanders and were not part of the fight. It happened after hours, off school grounds, and they were not in uniform,” Lemalie-Herbert said.

“We are connecting with those students and their family to check in on them and make sure they’re supported. We know this isn’t just a school issue, youth conflict that spills into the community and gets amplified on social media is something we all need to take seriously.”

“We’ll keep working alongside whānau and the community on that,” she said.

A police spokeswoman said officers received multiple calls about a large group of youths fighting.

Police responded before the group eventually dispersed.

The police Eagle helicopter was overhead at one point keeping observations, but was not specifically deployed for the incident.