Cloudside Academy

About Cloudside Academy

Cloudside Academy, a state primary in Erewash for pupils aged 7 to 11, was rated Good in its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2022, a significant turnaround from its previous Inadequate rating in 2016. The school’s academic story is best told through its Key Stage 2 results for the 2023/24 academic year, where 71% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That figure sits comfortably above the Derbyshire local authority average of 59%, placing Cloudside 55th out of 353 primary schools in the county. Within the Erewash borough specifically, the school ranks 7th out of 25 primaries, putting it in the top 28% locally. This solid performance is underpinned by strong individual subject scores: average scaled scores of 106 in reading and 105 in maths, with 83% of pupils reaching the expected level in reading and 82% in writing.

Digging deeper into the exam data, the proportion of pupils achieving the higher standard in reading, writing and maths combined was 10%, which is a respectable figure for a school where 42.6% of pupils are eligible for free school meals. In maths, 29% of pupils hit the higher standard, while 31% did so in reading and 27% in writing. The school’s overall ranking score of 71 places it in the top 50% nationally, at the 29th percentile, and within the East Midlands region it ranks 351st out of 1,353 primaries. Ofsted’s breakdown from the 2022 inspection awarded Good grades across the board for quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. This consistency suggests the school has embedded the improvements that lifted it out of its previous Inadequate rating, and the leadership team under headteacher Jodie Milson appears to have stabilised provision.

Cloudside Academy operates from a site with a strong range of facilities, including a sports hall, music rooms, art studios, a library, playing fields, and a forest school area. The school offers seven sports, from football and netball to dance and cross country, plus clubs including coding, book club and film club. Its SEND provision is notably comprehensive, covering specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulties, social and emotional mental health needs, speech and language challenges, hearing and visual impairments, physical disabilities, and autistic spectrum disorder. With 263 pupils against a capacity of 320, the school is not oversubscribed, which may offer some flexibility for families moving into the area. Cloudside suits parents looking for a primary that has demonstrably improved its academic outcomes, serves a diverse intake, and provides a broad range of enrichment activities without the pressure of a selective or oversubscribed environment.

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