Mr Jones said the school had stepped up its community involvement since the Covid pandemic.
"There have been a lot of people involved in the evolution of the school," he said.
"It's not just academic success, rising through the ranks Ofsted, but also developing community partnerships."
"I think Covid brought us all together as a community.
"There was a lot of work to do to support families through that period. Money was tight and we had to do as much as we could to try and provide support that was more than education and our school did fantastically well."
The school has teamed up with Heanor's Salcare Foodbank with pupils working to help cut the stigma for people using this service.
They have also collaborated with a local primary school to help residents in nearby care homes and children from the school regularly have boxing coaching at the Full Power Fitness gym.
Lottie, 14, welcomed the school award nomination, saying: "I think it is a great opportunity for the school to be seen and noticed and it makes me proud that I am part of the school.
"When I was told it [the award scheme] was worldwide I was shocked that we had made it into the top ten."