A brawl between students yesterday has led an Auckland high school to shut its doors for the next two days so that "emotions" can cool down.

Papakura High School principal Simon Craggs said the school will remain closed today and tomorrow to give his team time "to investigate and for emotions to return to normal within the school".

Police were earlier called to the fight at about 2.19pm yesterday.

They attended and located a group of students "having an altercation, which grew as more students joined in", a police spokeswoman said.

"Police spoke with the principal, and a decision was made by the school to go into lockdown while the incident was contained.

"The school reopened shortly after 3pm, after the group was dispersed by police and there were no further incidents of note."

Police said enquiries are ongoing into the cause of the fight and the students involved.

Officers will also continue to have a presence around the school over the next few days.

School principal Craggs also confirmed a fight had taken place "involving a number of students".

"We immediately phoned the police, who arrived swiftly to shut it down," he said.

"We are extremely disappointed that an incident like this happened on school grounds as we strive to make our school environment a safe place for everyone."

The school would take its time to investigate and determine its next steps, Cragg said.

That would include liaising closely with police and the Ministry of Education.

He said the incident did not give an accurate picture of the school's real community spirit.

"We have a wonderful student body and this is not reflective of the general values, attitudes and actions of the vast majority of our students."