It opened in September 1964 as Heanor Gate County Secondary School, a secondary modern school being officially opened on 19 June 1965. In the 1990s, it became a grant maintained school. It became a foundation school, very similar to grant maintained status, and added a sixth form. In 2002, it gained Science College specialist status, the first in Derbyshire. This was incorporated into the school's name from October 2002. The school converted to an Academy in November 2011. The school then became part of the Spencer Academies Trust from September 2014.
Former schools
Other schools that combined together to produce the school include Heanor Grammar School on Mundy Street, the William Howitt Secondary Modern School on Loscoe Road and Loscoe Road Girls Secondary Modern School. The former grammar school became the South East Derbyshire College in 1976.
School buildings
In February 2010 the Art and Technology block suffered a devastating fire caused by an electrical fault, which resulted in the Art section of the building being completely destroyed. This section of the block was consequently removed and replaced with a covered work area for the construction students. The Art block was subsequently moved to the newly built N block. This block then received an extension in 2012. In 2013 the Science block was completely refurbished to provide new and improved science facilities for the school. The Sixth From block was also refurbished in 2014 to provide a larger space for the students and some new class rooms. A new Student Support block was also constructed in 2014 to provide better facilities for students requiring educational support or help during school life from the school.
Admissions
The school accepts children aged 11–16. The Post 16 Centre is for ages 16–18.
School buildings
The school has a total of 15 blocks, some part of the original school, although some are temporary buildings. A block- Admin and Reception B block- Hall and Gym, English C block- Careers & Support Centre D block- Sixth Form Centre & Performing arts E block- English, Business and Computer Suites F block- Sciences G block- Music, Library H block- Maths J block- Humanities, Achievement Centre K block- Computer Suites L block- Languages M block- Biology & Social Sciences N block- Art & Design, Sociology S block- Maths, PE T block- Student Support, Beauty Salon
House system
The school currently has 5 houses named after Derbyshire's Stately Homes. Chatsworth- Red, Haddon- Yellow, Hardwick- Green, Kedleston- Purple and Sudbury- Blue Prior to this the school had 4 'houses' each one named after a person of note. Royce House-Red, Shaftesbury House-Yellow, Pastuer House-Blue and Nightingale House-Green
Academic performance
It gets GCSE results at about the average for comprehensive schools in England, but slightly below average for Derbyshire. A level results are slightly under the England average.
