Hutt Valley High School International

Welcome from the Principal

Nau mai haere mai ki tēnei Te Kura Tuarau o Te Awakairangi.

We welcome you to Hutt Valley High School.

Principal Denise Johnson with the Head Students for 2024 at the front of Hutt Valley High School, Student Leadership

We are a vibrant and exciting coeducational and multicultural high school with an outstanding reputation for preparing students well for their futures.

Founded in 1926 we offer high-quality education in an inclusive, positive and nurturing environment.

Hutt Valley High School is a large school with 1,960 students, but there is a space and a place for everyone, including our international students.

Hutt Valley High School is a calm, friendly and purposeful campus where students achieve incredible things. Our values are that we are kind, we are welcoming, we persevere, and we achieve.

Our school can provide multiple opportunities in sports, performing arts and cultural pursuits for students to connect, grow and experience fun and success.

Our students are firmly at the centre of all we do – with their well-being as important as their academic, cultural and sporting success.

Jodie Murden, the International Director and her team will get to know each student, especially what interests them, makes them happy, their goals, the sports or music groups they want to join and the academic focus they have for their time in New Zealand.

We look forward to your student and family joining us.

Ngā mihi nui,

Denise Johnson
Tumuaki/Principal

Our Location – Lower Hutt in the Wellington Region

Map of Lower Hutt, New Zealand designed for International Students travelling to Hutt Valley High School.

Lower Hutt – 15 Minutes to Wellington City
Lower Hutt, while a little smaller in population than Wellington City, is big on beautiful outdoor experiences, big on fresh produce from the land and sea, and huge on hospitality

Welcoming & Safe Community
You’ll find Wellingtonians and especially the Hutt Valley High School community among the most welcoming and accepting people you’ll meet. We celebrate different cultures, identities, religions, beliefs, and abilities in our communities.

Great Place to Study & Live
Wellington is a compact city that is one of the most liveable locations in the world. Good public transport, short commutes and low levels of pollution help students to both easily travel to school and explore the Wellington region’s many attractions and activities. Research from the Global Liveability Index often ranks Wellington as one of the world’s most liveable cities.

Studying at Hutt Valley High School

In 2023, Hutt Valley High School welcomed 65 international students from 11 different countries. Families choose for their students to study here as we offer a vibrant, inclusive high school with exceptional opportunities. As a school, we take pride in:

  • our strong school culture, based on our values of being welcoming, kind and respectful, and persevering and working hard to achieve success.
  • understanding our students’ goals and supporting them to succeed.
  • our international students from all over the world.
  • our caring and professional International Team that is dedicated to looking after our International students.
  • our House System that places students in one of six houses providing opportunities for friendship, support, competitions and fun.
  • offering a broad range of subjects with highly qualified and experienced teaching and support staff.
  • our extensive range of extracurricular opportunities – sports, clubs, performing arts, culture, enrichment, leadership and more.
  • our location, Hutt Valley High School is based in Lower Hutt in the Wellington region. Our school is just a 15-minute drive from Wellington City.
  • our world-class education system in New Zealand leads the way in educating students for the future. The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked New Zealand first out of 35 economies for instilling future skills.

See Hutt Valley High School in action in our short video here

Helpful Information for Families

Connect with Us

Denise Johnson, Principal, Member of the Hutt Valley High School International Team, Supporting International Students
Denise Johnson
Principal
Jodie Murden, International Student Director, Member of the Hutt Valley High School International Team, Supporting International Students
Jodie Murden
International Student Director
Anna Kingsford, International Homestay Coordinator, Member of the Hutt Valley High School International Team, Supporting International Students
Anna Kingsford
International Homestay Coordinator
Joanna Holm, International Administrator, Member of the Hutt Valley High School International Team, Supporting International Students
Joanna Holm
International Administrator