Meet Our Staff
You can download our teaching structure for the year here.
Claire Hughes
Principal
Rhys McKinley
Acting Principal
Tēnā koutou,
I am very proud to be the Tumuaki at Hampton Hill School. I have 32 years of teaching experience, most of which has been as a Deputy Principal across various schools in the Wellington region.
I originally come from the South Island having started my life in Bluff, then moving to Picton, where I did most of my schooling. I came to Wellington to undertake my studies and have remained here since, marrying Warren, a local Tawa person. Warren attended Hampton Hill School many years ago. In my spare time I love being active, playing golf, exploring the outdoors by going on hikes around our local area, and riding my bike - when the weather is conducive, you will likely see me travelling to and from school on it.
Teaching is a highly rewarding profession. I love seeing our tamariki excited about their learning journey, engaging positively with their peers and achieving success across many different aspects of their learning journey - academically, culturally and socially.
We have a great team at Hampton Hill School, together we provide holistic and engaging learning opportunities for all our tamariki.
I am looking forward to getting to know all our tamariki and their whānau, building strong positive relationships.
Tēnā koutou katoa
Year 0-4
Melanie Zimmerman
Yr 3-4 / Team Leader
Deputy Principal
I joined the Hampton Hill School team in 2019. I have over 14 years teaching experience, and am the syndicate leader for our Te Kākano junior team. I am passionate about creating an engaging, fun, learning environment that promotes learner agency and enables my learners to be active participants in their learning. Every member of our class is a teacher and a learner; we all have things we can teach to and learn from each other and this is something we will draw on within our class.
I live in Tawa with my husband, Brad, and my three girls. When I am not at school or running around after my girls, I enjoy spending time with family, baking, sketching, and crafting.
You are welcome to visit our classroom at any time and I encourage you to pop in and share in our learning journey.
Rebecca Quirke
Yr 0-1 / SENCo
Hello, I’m Rebecca Quirke and I am the new entrant teacher at Hampton Hill School. I have taught at Hampton Hill for about seven years in a range of different roles. I love teaching and inspiring children to learn by making the experience of learning as fun and enjoyable as possible.
When I’m not at school I love to spend time with my amazing family. I enjoy being creative – to paint, mosaic, scrapbook and like learning new crafts. I am also a bit of a back yard farmer and enjoy growing my own vegetables and raising chickens.
Lata Govind
Yr 1-2
Hi everyone, my name is Lata Govind, and I am excited to be back at Hampton Hill School. I love teaching juniors and have over 20 years’ experience. I have taught at different schools in Wellington and have expertise in Reading. In 2020 I trained as the Reading Recovery teacher and found this to be rewarding and great insight to how children learn to read.
Outside of school, I love baking, gardening, hiking and recently taken up fly fishing. My goal in life is to catch a trophy trout and spend 6 months in Italy learning how to cook by a Nona. Children are our future and learning should be fun and engaging! I’m really excited to get to know the learners and whānau of this very vibrant community. So, bring your smiley faces and be ready to learn!
Lauren Beckingsale
Yr 2,3,4
I was drawn to Hampton Hill for its engagement in the Enviroschools model as well as its RISE values, which really spoke to my own values as an educator, such as building empathy and resilience in my students.
I’ve been teaching for 6 years, both in Porirua and in Wellington. I’m originally from Auckland, and have been living in Te Whanganui-a-Tara for 8 years now. I am a big lover of maths, especially problem solving and working as a team to find solutions! I also have a love of social studies and art. I hope to incorporate all of these into our classroom – we’re going to mess around and have fun using our brains.
I live in Takapuwahia with my partner and our cat, and when I’m not at school I enjoy baking and gardening and being a general homebody! I love walks through the bush and reading a great book.
Year 5-6
Scott Hammer
Yr 5-6 / Team Leader
Since starting my career in teaching, I have been involved with Hampton Hill School. As a teacher, I really enjoy helping students grow as they understand what they are learning.
In 2014, I had the opportunity to grow my own knowledge by being involved with the Primary Science Teacher Fellowship. I focussed my studies on understanding the nature of science and looking at how to be more curious about the world around us. I find Science is a great way to help our kids grow as they understand the world around them.
Outside of school, I have taught myself to play guitar. I play in my church band.
Additional Teachers
Maria Osborne
Part-Time Teacher
Hello, I’m Maria and I work as a part time and relief teacher at Hampton Hill School.
I am very lucky to have the opportunity to work with all the year groups and children within the school. I could be teaching a new entrant class one day and a year 5/6 class the next. I love the challenge and variety this role brings.
I endeavour to make learning fun and enjoyable for all age groups. My mission is to help make every child believe that learning is cool and hopefully carry on this philosophy into the big wide world. I care about each and every child, about their learning and wellbeing. I believe that building strong positive relationships with children is the way to go.
When I’m not teaching, I’m enjoying time with my family. I love going for road trips to different parts of New Zealand I haven’t explored yet.
Keriana Mulligan-Galola
Part-Time Teacher
I am so privileged to work in a community of amazing people with experiences and a wealth of knowledge to gleen from. I joined this wonderful school in the beginning of 2020 and worked with Carol Brieseman for two years.
I love languages and cultures, Te Reo Maori, the Arts, Waiata. I enjoy people and being with my whanau. I guess my role at Hampton Hill School is to encourage. Encourage students to be the best version of themselves. Teaching them the basics Respect. Respect for themselves and their parents/whanau, and respect for their teachers and others.
I look forward to building positive connections with the tamariki and staff and the community this year. Nga mihi nunui ki a koutou.
Claire Jolly
Part-Time Teacher
Kia ora e te whānau o te Kura o Hampton Hill. Ko Claire Jolly tōku ingoa. Nō Tawa ahau.
I started teaching before the internet was in every school, let alone in every person’s hand! I love teaching and I’m so happy to be a part of the Hampton Hill School whānau. As a child, I loved school. However my younger brother hated it! I want every child to enjoy their school years and to feel welcome, important, valued and successful. Children learn best when they feel that they have agency over their learning and are engaged in interesting and relevant tasks. I strongly believe that every child has something to teach me as I work with, and teach them.
When I’m not teaching I’m hanging out with my own two boys and our dalmatian, Onyx. I love hiking and I’ve done a few of the Great Walks; I’m looking forward to doing more!
Matt Hutchinson
Part-Time Teacher
Kia ora koutou, I am happy to be working this year as a part time classroom release teacher with some of our youngest tamariki at Hampton Hill school. I have been teaching and learning alongside many amazing children for over 25 years, and I still love every moment of inspiration and flash of understanding.
I live in the beautiful Titahi Bay with my partner and my awesome son, cycling the Porirua hills, kayaking the sea, learning te reo and tikanga Māori, and creating a garden for the local wildlife.
Support Staff
Jill Fahey
Teacher Aide
I started working here in 2013. I am a qualified teacher aide and work with children across the school.
I have three children who have all been to this school. I also work and support my husband Steve in his own business.
I really enjoy my time here with the children and feel we have a great supportive community. It’s great to see the children progress as they learn and grow up.
My interests are my children’s sports, going to the beach, reading and catching up with friends
Lisa Murdoch
Teacher Aide
Hi I’m Lisa and I’m a mum to three boys.
I have been part of Hampton Hill since 2009, when my eldest child started school. I started volunteering in my children's classes then decided to train as a Teacher Aide; as I loved being able to help the children.
I am passionate about helping children to become the best learners that they can be. I especially love reading and I love being able to help the children to learn to read also.
My interests are spending time with my family and friends; reading; baking; and walking.
Rachel De Meij
Teacher Aide
Hi I’m Rachael. I have been part of the Hampton Hill School community for a good part of 18 years as all four of my children have either been through, or are still attending this school.
Over the years I have coached both hockey and netball teams.
When my youngest started at school, I started helping in the classroom. Being able to support the children with their learning is very rewarding.
Outside of school I enjoy being at home with my family and our pets.
Sue Kelly
Office Manager
Hi everyone, I joined Hampton Hill School in 2017 and enjoy being part of the school community working with staff, the children and their families.
My main roles as office manager are managing the school finances, staff payroll and student enrolments.
Originally from England, I have lived in Tawa for nearly 30 years where I help my husband Michael run his plumbing business. We have two amazing adult children and two adorable cats!
I enjoy gardening, walking, pilates and travel – especially holidays around New Zealand exploring our beautiful country!
Dave Murdoch
Caretaker
Hi my name is Dave, I am the caretaker here at Hampton Hill School.
My association with HHS began in 2009 when my eldest son started as a new entrant, since then my other two sons have also completed their primary education at HHS.
My wife Lisa also works at HHS having volunteered at the school for several years before training as a teacher aid.
My work background is in manufacturing electronics, meat and food packaging. Most recently I worked in IT.
In my spare time, I like to spend time with my family. We are all car nuts and spend a lot of time driving, maintaining my sons' cars and attending car shows etc. I also enjoy fishing and DIY.
Barbara Scott-Hill
Volunteer Librarian
Barbara is our Volunteer Librarian who helps the Teacher in Charge of the Library.
I’ve been a parent of Hampton Hill School since 2007 and have been increasingly involved with the school over the years with fundraising. More recently since 2011 I’ve got more involved with the library and have become the volunteer librarian. My three boys are past-students of Hampton Hill School.
I enjoy giving my time to the school as a volunteer, and get satisfaction that any help I give helps the school; and the teachers spend more quality time teaching. Its great to be part of Hampton Hill being part of the community with the teachers, parents, and of course the children!