Dear parents, guardians, and students,

In this week's newsletter, please find our latest updates and important information, including:

A Message from the Principal
Upcoming Events
- First Book Club Session
- 3-Way Conferences
Practical Information
- Halloween Week & Trunk or Treat
Best Practices
- The Dreamers and the Art of Making Friends
- Discover LERFLIX
- Sustainable Schools: Students Investigate our School
- 12th grade Math Project: The Rise of Plastic Production
Act Together
- New Partnership: Jiu-Jitsu for the Aprendizes Community
- Drama: Call for Props and Costume Donations!
- Volunteering with Family or Friends: December Weekends
- Aprendizes in the Press
- News from the Kitchen

Reading the World - and Learning to Change It

There are few things I believe in more strongly than the importance of reading.

Not only because reading helps us learn languages, understand stories and succeed academically, but because it helps us make sense of the world. To question what we are told. To connect ideas. To explore the world. To understand different realities. To understand different perspectives. To become curious.

This makes the latest PISA results particularly relevant. PISA assesses how well 15-year-olds apply their knowledge to real-world situations, including reading, mathematics and science. The results show a worrying decline in reading performance, with Portugal also performing below the level seen when it first participated in PISA in 2000.

This is one of the reasons why, last year, we introduced daily reading in Primary. We also continue to place a strong focus on reading throughout the school. Reading is not just something we do in language lessons - it is a foundation for learning in every subject.

And now we are taking another step: we are starting the Aprendizes Book Club, initially in Portuguese, bringing together students, parents and staff around books and good conversations.

Interestingly, this week we have a high school English teacher from Denmark visiting us for job shadowing. She is the same teacher who welcomed one of our English teachers in Denmark earlier this year. She was surprised by how analogue we are compared with many Danish high schools.

For a long time, this might have been seen as a disadvantage. But perhaps we are beginning to understand that it can also be a strength. Across the Nordic countries, there is now growing reflection about the role of technology in schools, as distraction and excessive screen use are increasingly seen as part of the explanation for declining student performance.

Sometimes, books, paper, conversation and being fully present with one another are not old-fashioned. They are exactly what we need.

And I am equally proud of our 12th-grade students, who recently used Mathematics to investigate the growth of plastic production in the USA and Europe. They analysed exponential growth, created mathematical models and visualised their findings through posters - even predicting what production could look like by 2050.

Because learning Maths also means learning to read - and question - the world around us.

Making the A-level curriculum come alive like this is not easy. So, a big shout-out to our Maths teacher for making it happen.

Rikke

Pre-School

Primary

Middle

Secondary

Whole Community

FIRST BOOK CLUB SESSION

Join us for the opening session of the Aprendizes Book Club 2026/27, on 13 October, from 18:30 to 20:00, in the Library. We begin with Debaixo de Água, by Tara Menon, in a conversation facilitated by Cristina Rodriguez and Ana Luísa Carneiro. An evening to read together, exchange perspectives and discover where a book can take a conversation. Open to everyone.

More information here: https://www.aprendizes.pt/clube-de-leitura-dos-aprendizes-2627

3-WAY CONFERENCES

SAVE THE DATE: Wednesday, 11 November

Our 3-Way Conference Day is coming! This is a moment for our students to take charge of their learning. Each student will share their own reflection on how they are doing, both academically and beyond the classroom, and set the goals they want to achieve in the coming months.

It is a time to reflect together, with parents and head teachers by their side, because learning is a shared journey.

Please note there will be no lessons on this day. Parents will receive more information by email.

HALLOWEEN WEEK & TRUNK OR TREAT

Get your costumes ready, because Halloween is coming to Aprendizes! On 23/10, we'll be celebrating with our much-loved Trunk or Treat, bringing students, families and staff together for a morning of spooky fun.

Car Organisation

Families taking part are invited to decorate their car trunks with their most creative Halloween displays. To keep everything running smoothly, cars will enter by section:

  
      Time
      Activity
      Section
    
      9:10
      Car entry
      Pre-School
    
      9:40–10:25
      Trunk or Treat
      Pre-School
    
      10:30
      Car entry
      Primary
    
      11:00–11:45
      Trunk or Treat
      Primary
    
      11:50
      Car entry
      Middle School
    
      12:20–13:05
      Trunk or Treat
      Middle School

Middle School

The fun continues in the afternoon with a Halloween party in the Refectory!

Secondary School – Spirit Week

Our Secondary students will be celebrating all week long with a different theme each day:

Monday: Pyjama Day
Tuesday: Twin Day
Wednesday: Bikers vs. Surfers
Thursday: 70s vs. 80s
Friday: Class Costumes

We can't wait to see your creativity on display!

THE DREAMERS AND THE ART OF MAKING FRIENDS

The “Sonhadores” class listened to Meesha Makes Friends by Tom Percival, the story of a girl who shares how she makes friends and builds her own handmade toys. Inspired by her, the children created a class mural sharing their own ideas about friendship. Then, just like the girl in the story, they made toys with their own hands.

A lovely reminder that friendships, like toys, are built together.

DISCOVER LERFLIX

Reading is about more than learning. It sparks curiosity, stimulates imagination and helps children discover the joy of a good story. LERFLIX is a new Primary project created to encourage children to discover new books and develop a love of reading. Every month, teachers come together to curate new recommendations, organised by grade and available in English and Portuguese as an additional language.

The LERFLIX mural can be found at the school reception. Next time you’re at school, stop by, explore the latest suggestions and discover the books that could become part of your child’s reading journey.

SUSTAINABLE SCHOOLS: STUDENTS INVESTIGATE OUR SCHOOL

In their Global Perspectives lessons with Ms Luci Freitas, students are working on the Sustainable Schools project. To get started, they welcomed representatives from different school departments involved in sustainability, who explained how Aprendizes works day to day.

Using this information, students will now look closely at how the school operates and develop their own projects to help make it even more sustainable.

12TH GRADE MATH PROJECT: THE RISE OF PLASTIC PRODUCTION

In Mr Matteo Pisano's Maths class, grade 12 students investigated plastic production in the US and EU, from 1950 to 2015. Using logarithmic linearisation, they calculated exponential growth and projected figures for 2050. Mathematical analysis, graphs and posters.

NEW PARTNERSHIP: JIU-JITSU FOR THE APRENDIZES COMMUNITY

Aprendizes has a new partnership with Five Elements Jiu Jitsu Cascais, with classes held at Mujō, in the centre of Cascais. More than just a sport, jiu-jitsu teaches discipline, respect and confidence, both on and off the mat.

There are three classes, grouped by age:

Little Warriors (ages 4–7): Tuesdays and Thursdays, 17:00–17:45
Junior Ninjas (ages 7–11): Mondays and Wednesdays, 17:00–17:45, or Tuesdays and Thursdays, 17:45–18:30
Teen Samurai (ages 11–16): Mondays and Wednesdays, 17:45–18:45
Aprendizes students receive 50% off their first month, with no joining fee.

DRAMA: CALL FOR PROPS AND COSTUME DONATIONS!

We are collecting items to help our students explore self-expression, improvisation and theatre.

Costume items: sandals, capes and other costume pieces in children's sizes
Small props: hats, headbands, helmets, vintage walking sticks, wings, and plastic or lightweight swords and daggers
Fabrics: large, unused fabric remnants with special textures or patterns (shiny, fish-scale, etc.)

Please choose your items thoughtfully. We are building a small, carefully curated collection for our Primary and Middle School Drama lessons, so we kindly ask that you don't send general second-hand clothing. Thank you for your support!

VOLUNTEERING WITH FAMILY OR FRIENDS: DECEMBER WEEKENDS

Refood Cascais, one of the school's partners, is a social organisation that collects surplus food and distributes it to families in need. On 5, 6, 12 and 13 December (Saturdays and Sundays), Refood is looking for volunteers to wrap gifts at Continente in CascaiShopping.

Shifts last just 2 hours and make a real difference. It's a fun activity for families with children aged 10 to 14, or for groups of friends aged 15 and over.

To take part, please fill in the form by 5 November.

APRENDIZES IN THE PRESS

Over the past few months, Aprendizes has been in the news, and we couldn't be prouder of our pupils.

The ReLIEable Museum (Museu da Mentira), created by our pupils to help us think more carefully before believing everything we see, read or hear, was featured in Expressinho.

Our participation in Cidade do Zero, in Lisbon, where we brought zero-waste cooking and a reflection on the school of the future, reached publications such as Sábado, Correio da Manhã, Green Savers, Sustainable Living and A Cidadina.

Thank you to all the pupils, team members and families who make these projects possible. You can also find all the articles in the "Clipping" highlight on our Instagram.

NEWS FROM THE KITCHEN

INTERNATIONAL DAYS IN THE KITCHEN:
15 OCT | Mexico

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