The St Bede's College rowers axed from their Maadi Cup rowing team for breaching airport security say they took court action due to concerns over the school's decision-making process and have questioned whether the punishment was fair.

The father of one of the boys, who was chairman of the school's rowing club, has also stood down from his role.

Read more: Mike Yardley says parents' action stinks of self-entitlement

Facebook ST BEDE'S ROWER: Jack Bell.

Teen rowers Jack Bell and Jordan Kennedy were removed from the school's Maadi Cup rowing team after being given formal warnings by police and the Aviation Security Service for jumping on a baggage conveyor at Auckland Airport on Friday.

The pupils, who had just arrived on a domestic flight from Christchurch, rode the carousel through rubber curtains and into a restricted baggage area, the Civil Aviation Authority said.

The school ruled the pupils should be sent home. However, their parents, Shane Kennedy and Antony Bell, were granted a High Court injunction allowing their sons to stay and compete in the Maadi Cup.

A statement, released by the boys and their families on Monday afternoon, said the court action was never intended to justify their actions or to suggest the school was not entitled to take disciplinary action.

"The only reason for the court action was due to concerns over the school's decision-making process and over whether or not the decision as made was proportionate to the misbehaviour. The court action was certainly not taken lightly," the statement said.

"They accept that what they did was stupid. No harm was meant and it was intended as nothing more than a prank.

"All parties are aware that following a full and fair investigation about the incident that there may well be disciplinary consequences."

Shane Kennedy, the father of Jordan Kennedy and chairman of the St Bede's College Rowing Club, confirmed he had stood down from his role on Sunday.

"It was obviously not appropriate for him to remain in that role with the current court proceedings."

The statement said the boys were now determined to prove to their teammates, school and the public that the chance they have been given was justified.

MP OLD BOYS DIVIDED

United Future leader Peter Dunne, a former St Bede's pupil, has tweeted his support for two pupils punished by the school for breaching airport security.

Writing on Twitter Dunne said the boys' actions were "not a harmless prank, but it is not for the school to resolve".

"Schools often assume too much authority in cases like this for reputational reasons only."

However, another former St Bede's pupil in Parliament, Labour MP Clayton Cosgrove said he was surprised the students' parents had not backed the school's decision.

"I think the school has acted appropriately. This is a serious issue because it's aviation security."

Cosgrove said the parents could have counselled their sons to learn from their mistakes, rather than take the matter to court.

His own parents would have been "squarely" on the school's side, he said. "When I transgressed in those days, we got caned."

Cosgrove added he was surprised the injunction was granted. "It seems to have got a bit out of control," he said.

"On the face of it, it does seem to undermine the authority of the school."

SCHOOL'S CODE OF CONDUCT BREACHED

St Bede's College rector Justin Boyle said he decided the boys, aged 16 and 17, were in breach of the school's code of conduct and banned them from competing at the regatta, which starts on Monday.

Boyle was told on Sunday the pupils' parents had taken "a united stance" to seek an injunction at the High Court in Christchurch to allow their sons to row in the competition.

The parents' lawyer, Andrew Marsh, confirmed they had been granted a temporary injunction by the High Court on Monday morning allowing the boys to participate in the competition "while we sort out whether the school was right or wrong".

An application for the boys' names to be suppressed was not granted by the court.

St Bede's College rowing club chairman Shane Kennedy - a West Melton-based thoroughbred horse trainer, builder and developer - confirmed he was the father of one of the two pupils involved, but said he would not comment on the incident.

"At this stage the boys are rowing, that's all I can tell you."

In a written decision, Justice Rachel Dunningham said she considered an "urgent application" which would allow the boys to participate in the regatta this week.

The boys were represented by their litigation guardians, Shane Kennedy and Antony Bell, of Sumner.

Dunningham heard the matter by telephone just after 9am on Monday because of the "urgency" of the matter, including the fact one of the boys was due to participate in his first race at 11.28am.

She declined to suppress the boys' names, but granted the interim injunction "preventing [St Bede's College] from implementing the decision to prevent the applicants from rowing at the 2015 Maadi Cup".

ROWING UNDERWAY

The boys are among 42 pupils from the school competing in the Maadi Cup regatta at Lake Karapiro, Waikato.

It is the largest national rowing regatta for New Zealand school pupils with 2196 teens from 122 schools.

On Monday, Jack Bell competed in the under-17 coxed boys eight at 11.28am. His team finished third with a time of 6.10.63 and will head into the repechage round.

Jordan Kennedy placed third in his under 18 coxed four race and will head to the repechage round.

Boyle said he realised the boys were to compete at the regatta of their lives after a lot of hard work and said it was "a very difficult decision" to make.

The code of conduct - which warns that any serious breach of school or societal laws would result in the boys being sent home - was signed by the boys and their parents, he said.

"It's disappointing for all concerned, believe me, but it's quite simple what the code of conduct says; if they break school rules or break laws of society then therefore they could be sent home."

He said the boys were members of several teams, including the school's Maadi eight crew.

Teams had been told to prepare as if the boys were not rowing and plans were in place to fill their spots, he said.

They were asked to go home on Friday but had been told to remain with the team by their parents, Boyle said.

BOYS AMONGST SCHOOL'S BEST

A parent of one of the rowers in the St Bede's College Maadi eight said the fact the pair were in the team meant they were among the school's top rowers.

"To be honest Jordan's probably the best, and Jack is average."

He had no view on the parents' decision to stage a legal challenge against the school, but it would be "hard to say" what he would do if his son was in the same situation.

He said the rowers worked extremely hard for the Maadi Cup regatta.

"They are training six days a week, two to three hours a day since October with a wee break over Christmas," he said.

The parent said the the school had not contacted him about the incident, and he was following developments through the media.

AIRPORT'S ZERO TOLERANCE FOR PRANKS

A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said a Jetstar ramp agent spotted the boys immediately as they emerged in the restricted area and Aviation Security Service (Avsec) officials were alerted.

"The boys apologised immediately and said they did it for fun.

"Avsec called the police and the boys were given a formal warning by both Avsec and the police," the spokesman said.

"We do understand that students travelling as a group can get quite excited, and have a lot of nervous energy, but they must understand that in airport environments there is zero tolerance for games or pranks."

About eight students, who were competing at Lake Ruataniwha last year, set tennis balls and a road on fire. It is the second consecutive year members of the St Bede's rowing team have been disciplined for misbehaving at Maadi Cup events.

The boys, aged 15 and 16, doused tennis balls in petrol before lighting them and throwing them.

The students poured out the letters "SBC" in petrol on Tekapo

Drive outside where they were staying and then lit it. The letters stand for "St Bede's Crew".

They also burnt out the shape of a penis.

Boyle said it was made clear to the team what was expected of them before leaving and he was disappointed the message did not get through to all.

Andrew McCormick, a partner at Rangiora law firm Brandts-Giesen McCormick, is representing St Bede's.

Hastings lawyer Jol Bates, who won a recent court case against St John's College for suspending pupil Lucan Battison for refusing to cut his long hair, expected the parents' lawyers to attack the process undertaken by St Bede's.

"It will be a pretty hard call to overturn a decision on the merits of that nature where the pupils haven't been suspended from an education, rather they have lost benefits.

"These cases are always process driven . . . I imagine there will be an argument there wasn't a fair hearing of the issue and secondly that the decision was unreasonable, although that's always going to be a more difficult argument."