Norris was born Noel Evelyn Norris on 25 December 1918.[1] She started primary school at Raffles Girls' Primary School in 1925.[1] She attended Raffles Girls' Schools until 1933, when she studied for a year at St. George's Girls School.[2] She studied history at Raffles College and earned a degree in Education.[2]
Norris started teaching at Bukit Panjang Primary School in 1939, but when World War II broke out, she went to India and Ceylon as a volunteer in the Royal Air Force (RAF).[2][1] In the RAF, she worked as a librarian in the Royal Air Force Library.[1] When the war ended, she came back to Singapore and taught history at the Raffles Girls' School (RGS) from 1946 to 1955.[1] In 1956 she became the principal of the new Crescent Girls' School.[2] Norris came back to RGS to work as principal there until she retired in 1976.[1]
During her leadership at RGS, Norris developed extracurricular activities, including various sports and music programs.[2] She also encouraged students to learn and understand various "mother tongue" languages in Singapore by conducting weekly assemblies in different languages each week.[2] These assemblies rotated through English, Malay and Tamil and other classes included Mandarin.[2] Norris also worked on Ministry of Education committees and helped revise the history syllabus.[2] Norris also stayed active in the People's Defence Force, eventually becoming a Major of the Singapore Women Auxiliary Corps, and later took over the National Cadet Corps girls' section.[2]
After retiring, Norris dedicated her life to community service and worked as a volunteer at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).[2] She also taught at the School for Retarded Children.[3]
In November 2011, Norris had a stroke and spent around six months in Tan Tock Seng Hospital.[4] After her discharge, a group made up of former students and faculty of Raffles Girls' School took care of her at her home in Brighton Crescent.[4] Norris died on 15 February 2014.[4]
Norris was awarded the Public Service Administration Medal (Silver) in 1964.[1] In 1977, she was awarded the Long Service Medal.[1] Norris was inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame in 2019.[2]
