History Kōrero o mua

The History of Hilltop School

Hilltop School opened at the beginning of 1964 with 207 pupils. There were six classrooms. Four more classrooms were built on the higher level in 1966. Parents raised the money and built the school swimming pool in 1967. By 1970 one prefabricated and four more relocatable classrooms were added. In 1972 two more classrooms were built with storage underneath (Rooms 1 and 2).

In October of 1990 the Martin Hall was built in a day with school and community support in the form of donations of time and materials. In 1992 the school gained approval to re-capitate (have the Year 7 and 8 classes back at Hilltop). Two classrooms and toilet blocks were built from locally raised funds to accommodate them. Three additional classrooms were built in 1996 and in 2008/9 2 additional classrooms were built to accommodate the growing new entrant classes.

The first headmaster was Mr Don Hook, who opened the school in 1964 and resigned in 1974. The old library (now Room 15) is named after him. Ross Martin commenced as principal in 1976 and retired in 1989. Mr Tony Riordan started his principal position in 1990 and retired from teaching in 1999. Mr Dave Hughes started and was with us for 15 years before taking medical retirement in 2014. Mr Karl Bishop and Mrs Dot Hare were the Acting Principal until Mrs Meg Bird was appointed Principal in 2016. Andrea Hunter is currently our Principal.