The former headteacher, Fiona Hutchings, was headteacher from 2001 until July 2012. Kate White, the current headteacher, assumed Hutchings' position in September 2012. It has 879 students attending. In the sixth form, boys may attend.
It was originally next to Plymouth Cathedral but the site was bombed in 1941. In 1965 a new school building was completed on the grounds of the convent at Looseleigh Lane in Derriford.[clarification needed] Sister Mary Xavier was the headmistress.
In 1981 it amalgamated with the Bishop Vaughan Secondary School to become Notre Dame Comprehensive School for Girls.[1] St Boniface's became a comprehensive at the same time.
In 1993 boys were accepted in the sixth form and the school became Notre Dame Roman Catholic School.
Notre Dame had much building work done in the academic year 2007/8: among this was a large professional sports hall, a library and a five-classroom block for history and geography named Stang Block after Dorothy Stang.
In 2019, at GCSE, the school's Progress 8 score was average.[2] The proportion of pupils entering the English Baccalaureate was below average, as was the percentage of pupils attaining Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs and the school's Attainment 8 score.[2]
The average result at the school for A level in 2019 was C−, just below the Plymouth and England figures.[3]
