History
The school was founded in 1960 as a Technical Grammar School, with pupils who passed the 11,12&13 plus and pupils from Allenton Technical School. It is named after the late Philip Noel-Baker, Olympic athlete, Derby South MP and Nobel Peace Prize winner.
During the 1970s, the school functioned well under the firm leadership of the headteacher, Glynn John (known affectionately by the pupils as 'Nunk').
However, during the early 1980s, after his retirement, the school declined. This was due largely to declining results. The school drastically turned around when a new headteacher, Mr Geoff Wynne stepped in, in the late 1980s. He took the school's GCSE results from 9% A-Cs in 1989 to 32% in 2002 when he retired. The schools GCSE results have continued to improve, moving to consistently above 30% for the key national measure of 5A*-C including English and Mathematics.
Dr. Paul Davies, of Swansea, then took the role of head master, his focus was on securing consistent exam results and behaviour. As Dr Paul Davies was a doctor of History he would sometimes cover History lessons in order to gain a first-hand insight into students opinions of the school. The success of his brief spell as headmaster was great, as student GCSE A*-C grades saw a gradual percentage increase, although were still quite low compared to other secondary schools in the Derby area. The school has since seen year-on-year development of GCSE results. Dr. Davies left the position of head master to join the Local Authority as Head of Secondary Learning following his departure Margaret Eley took the position of Acting Headteacher in the interim period.
In 2009 Mal Kerr, of Wirksworth, became Headteacher. Mal Kerr is of Irish descent and since his arrival has attempted to establish good relationships with students around the school. This has been noticed by his frequent attempts to meet and greet students.
The school had a satisfactory OFSTED report in 2005, this was built upon in 2008 when inspectors reported that Noel-Baker Community School and Language College was a 'good and improving school'.
Read more about this topic: Noel-Baker Community School
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