HIBS was founded in 1991 as a private school, and was then known as Hutt Independent Boys' School, with Barry Kerr as principal. The school was briefly sited in Silverstream, Upper Hutt, on land that later became a rest home. However, due to the lease on the site expiring, the school moved to its present site in Trentham, Upper Hutt in 1994, on land previously owned by the Wellington Racing Club, which included the former Burma Lodge motel. The school also became state integrated the same year.