History of the School

Early History

Heanor Gate County Secondary School began taking pupils in September 1964. It was officially opened on 19th June 1965 by the Rt. Hon. George Brown, M.P.

It was one of many 11-16 secondary schools built during the 1950s and 1960s to provide pupils with a rounded education including a range of practical and life skills.

The school has been involved with many of the changes that have taken place in education over the years.

1980s & 1990s

In the 1980s it became a comprehensive school, adding in pupils who would formerly have gone to grammar school, and in the early 1990s, took Grant Maintained Status, receiving its own budget direct from central government.

Although Grant Maintained Schools were abolished in 1999, Heanor Gate School, as it was known by then, continued to control most of its own affairs by becoming a Foundation School, and a sixth form was added to allow pupils to continue at the school until the age of 18.

2000s

In 2002 the school was awarded Science College Status - the first in Derbyshire and one of only 24 around the country. This has included a further change of name to the current one of Heanor Gate Science College, which was approved by the school governors in 2002 and became the official name of the school from October 2002. It also led to an expansion of the curriculum to include a wider range of science subjects including astronomy, electronics, geology and environmental science. In 2006 Heanor Gate was designated a 'High Performing School' by the DFES and in 2007 became the lead school for the new specialised diploma in ICT

Recent Developments

In 2010 Heanor Gate suffered a serious fire, destroying much of the art and technology area of the school. The area was replaced by temporary buildings, with a more permanent, purpose built development planned for the near future.

In 2011 students and staff were delighted to be recognised as members of an outstanding school by OFSTED.

As an outstanding school, Heanor Gate converted to an academy on 1st Nov 2011.

Since becoming an academy the school has begun a programme of refurbishments and development, including extensions to the art block in 2012, a fully refurbished science block in 2013 and improvements to the 6th Form building & a new student support and inclusion block due to be built during 2014.

50th Anniversary

The school will celebrate its 50th anniversary in the 2014/15 school year. Did you study or work at Heanor Gate? Do you have any photographs or mementos of your time here? We are currently collecting information for a 50th anniversary celebration. If you can help please contact