Welcome to Viridis Schools

Orchard, Southwold and Hoxton Garden Schools are in the vibrant and diverse community of Hackney, East London with easy transport links into and out of Central London. We have been a hard Federation of three schools since 2014 and our strength is established partnership working. We have a joint pupil roll of around 1300 children, a joint Governing Body and strong links to our Local Authority. Each school has its own leadership team who work together with the common aim of giving children the very best. 

Our partnership schools are all graded good or outstanding by Ofsted and we are also recognised for the exceptional achievement our children make, particularly our disadvantaged children. Despite their challenging contexts, our schools have established a highly collaborative and successful way of working supported by continual self-evaluation and improvement. We have a skilled team who work incredibly hard to ensure every child fulfils their potential and staff from all three schools meet regularly to share expertise and share best practise.

Our Federation Story

We provide a broad ranging curriculum, whilst ensuring that children learn to speak, read, write and count at a level which will give every chance of success. This is supported by a broad and balanced wider curriculum offer incorporating cycling, gardening, chess, enrichment experiences, sporting opportunities, school journey and visits to Spain and Tenerife.  We are committed to ensuring that all children get the best possible primary education. Encouraging children to be confident speakers who understand their rights and play an active part in school life are a key aim in our Federation. We believe that the views, experiences and influence of our children are an integral part of our drive to continuously improve our provision. We seek ways to listen to the views of our children and involve them in decision-making so that they are engaged as partners in the life of the school. 

The strong and sustained practice of ensuring that pupil voice permeates throughout the Federation has significant impact on engagement in learning and social and emotional wellbeing. Results of the school’s annual pupil survey reflects attitudes to both school and learning as being exemplary. Awards achieved demonstrate a consistent positive commentary relating to pupil ownership and oracy. Staff and children have a highly positive and productive working relationships and children are confident, articulate, responsible and show high levels of care. As part of our continued commitment to professional development, we offer high quality training opportunities for our staff, drawing on experience from within the Federation and from our external partners. 

As a result, our staff feel valued with many staff shaping their career progression within our Federation. This is supported by an effective Initial Teacher Training Programme, a recognised Early Career Teaching Programme, an established Leadership Development Programme and an exceptional Research Programme. We are an outward thinking Federation with a strong commitment to professional partnership working, host regular best practise visits and undertake a range of school to school support activities with schools outside the Federation. We are always delighted to hear from colleagues in other settings who want to know more about how we work and what we do or are seeking opportunity to engage in professional reflection and dialogue.