A teacher has faced court after allegedly stabbing a Melbourne principal on school grounds, forcing the suburban campus into lockdown.

Kim Ramchen, 37, is accused of assaulting Keysborough Secondary College principal Aaron Sykes about 3pm on Tuesday.

Police arrested him at the school, in Melbourne’s outer south-east.

Both men were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and later released.

Ramchen appeared in Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday to seek bail after being charged with offences including unlawful assault, intentionally causing injury and recklessly engage in conduct placing a person in danger of serious injury.

The court was told the alleged attack occurred after he had learned that his teaching contract would not be renewed for 2026, the ABC reported.

A police officer told the court Ramchen got a 10-centimetre knife from an office kitchen at the school and went into Sykes’ office, where he is accused of stabbing him.

Another staff member apparently intervened, pulling Ramchen off the principal, and the school was put into lockdown just before afternoon pick-up. However, it is alleged Ramchen returned to the office and started assaulting Sykes again with a larger knife before staff stopped him.

During the bail hearing, his lawyer said Ramchen, who had worked at the school for two years, claimed he “snapped” after Sykes slammed a door following a discussion about his contract.

The magistrate ultimately denied the bail request.

Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll confirmed on Wednesday morning that Sykes – who reportedly suffered cuts to his hand – had been discharged from hospital and was recovering at home.

Carroll said no students witnessed the alleged assault, and the school had reopened. Student support officers were on site to offer assistance to staff and students.

“My thoughts are with the school principal, his family and his friends that will all be suffering from what occurred with this very traumatic incident,” he said.

“The school took all the appropriate measures, the staff acted promptly, and there’s now an investigation under way. I’m just so grateful that the principal is at home and recovering.”

A Year 8 student at the school described the incident as frightening, saying that when the alarm sounded everyone began running and teachers told people to hide.

“You know what you see in movies, in like America,” he told The Age. “It’s just like one of those, but in real life, experiencing it.

“We were hiding for a good 20 minutes … until another alarm came out saying you can go outside. I felt relieved that nothing was going to happen.”

–with AAP