title: Upper Hutt College
text: # Upper Hutt College
  
  Upper Hutt College is a state co-educational secondary school located in Trentham in the city of Upper Hutt, New Zealand. The school opened in 1962 as the city's second state secondary school, supplementing Heretaunga College in Wallaceville. As of April 2023, the school has a roll of 1081 students from years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18).
  
  ## Houses
  
  The students are arbitrarily divided into four houses, each which have received their name from a famous New Zealander as voted by the student body in 2004. Each house also has their own set colour which is used at house events (for example Athletics Day) so each student can comfortably represent their house, and it also encourages artificial division within the school.
  
  * Blake (Sir Peter Blake, red)
  * Hillary (Sir Edmund Hillary, yellow/gold)
  * Jackson (Sir Peter Jackson, green)
  * Te Kanawa (Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, blue)
  
  ## Fire
  
  On the evening of 1 September 2019, a fire was started in one of the classrooms in the technology block, and quickly got out of control. A number of firefighters and units spent hours getting it under control. Nobody was harmed during the fire.
  
  The school ended up being closed for a number of weeks, due to safety concerns raising from the fire. Asbestos was discovered in the damaged building and had to be removed safely. The main power cable that brought power into the school was under the building that was destroyed, work had to be carried out to make sure there was no damage to cables. The junior school was broken up, and spread out to two different sites so that teaching and learning could be carried on.
  
  Two people were arrested for arson.
  
  ## Notable alumni
  
  * Ray Ahipene-Mercer - Wellington City councillor
  * Rebecca Kitteridge - Director of Security for the Security Intelligence Service (SIS)
  * Sika Manu - Professional rugby league footballer
  