Christchurch’s Hillmorton High School has been forced to close for two days after rats damaged a core fibre cable, knocking out the school’s internet and key systems.

Students were asked to work from home on Monday and Tuesday while repairs were carried out.

Principal Sam Ainsworth said staff discovered the issue on Monday morning.

“Unfortunately, we have a cabling issue with a core fibre cable connection that has been severely damaged by rodents over the weekend.

“This fibre connection is our main connection to the school and as a result of the damage, I have concerns about managing the health and safety of large numbers of students,” Ainsworth said.

He said the school’s servers were down, there was no WiFi, no phone system, no wired network connection, no student management system and access to CCTV had also been lost.

Any assessments due to take place today would be rescheduled.

Ainsworth said contractors were working today to install a new cable, and the school was hopeful it would reopen tomorrow.

“We are confident and hopeful that Wednesday will run as normal.

“We are confident that even if the network is not fully up and running, we will have had time to make provisions to ensure students can return to school,” he said.

The Ministry of Education said its property adviser was in contact with the school, and repairs were under way.