Dear Team,

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

A Message from the Principal
Special Shout-out
Update on Staff, Recruitment and reminders
Practical Information
- Exceptional Authorisation for Children to Remain on School Premises
- School Calendar
- Received a Student Document?
- Action Research Program
- A Little Thank You for our Kitchen
- New School Bus Route, Stopping at Aprendizes
Upcoming Events
- Join Us at the Languages Bio Market
- PTSO Meeting (Parents, Teachers and Students Organization)
- First Book Club Session
- Nordic Approach to Education Workshop
Section Stories
- Art at Pre-School
- Primary School Elections
- Middle School Elections
- Secondary School Elections
Act Together
- News from the Kitchen

Learning Democracy by Doing Democracy

Democracy is not only something we learn about in books. It is something we learn by doing.

At Aprendizes, we want our students to experience what it means to have a voice, listen to others, bring ideas and suggestions, express criticism and take responsibility for helping to shape the community they are part of.

Our youngest students already practise this in Preschool, where classes have weekly elections for president, vice-president and other roles that help the class function.

Over the past few weeks, students in Primary, Middle and Secondary have also elected their Class Representatives. Every two weeks, they meet with their Head of Section to discuss what is working, what could be improved and what ideas they have.

Our Parent Class Representatives are part of this too. Next Tuesday, 29 September, all elected student and parent representatives will come together at the library to identify challenges, explore solutions and celebrate the community we are building together.

This is how we learn democracy - not simply by talking about it, but by participating in it.

A small autumn reminder

As we enter autumn, we also enter the season of lice and respiratory illnesses. Please check your children regularly for lice - this is a parental responsibility, not a school responsibility.

If your child is unwell or has a contagious illness, we kindly ask that they stay at home until they are fully recovered and you are certain that there is no longer any risk of infection.

For some people in our community, these precautions matter much more than we may realise. Taking care of each other is also part of being a community.

Rikke

About this space

This space is for colleagues, by colleagues — it’s not from the management, it’s from the team, for the team. It’s about valuing what we are together, recognizing the effort, care, and presence. If you’d like to thank a colleague, this is the place. It will be published in the next newsletter.

Shout out

A huge thank you to Barbara Portugal for making sure that all our new families felt so warmly welcomed — not to mention those who have been with us for longer. (From Verônica Barbieri)

A special thank you to the Pre-School team for all the hard work with the meetings with parents. (From TfD)

Many thanks to Eva Silva and the Primary teamfor all the hard with the meetings with parents. (From TfD)

A big thank you to Diogo Santos, Verônica Barbieri, Laura Cercas, Joana Xardoné, Teresa Cruz, Silvana Silva, Lorena Hungria and everyone else who helped make the Extra-Curricular Try-Out Programme and Family Picnic such a big success. (From TfD)

We're very grateful to Eunice Maia, Joana Xardoné, Fátima Daúdo, André Maciel, Vanessa da Trindade, Patrícia Centurion and everyone else who supported the Cidade do Zero event. (From TfD)

A big thank you to Verônica Barbieri for preparing the follow-up survey for our new parents. (From TfD)

We're very grateful to Erwin Russel for his steady support in handling some of our more challenging conversations with families. (From TfD)

A heartfelt thank you to our Primary School Team for making House Sporting such a success! Your energy, enthusiasm and teamwork brought our House System vision to life and gave our students a truly memorable day. Thank you, too, for working so closely with our House Facilitators. (From Dimitri Athanasopoulos)

A big shout-out to Diogo Santos for taking the lead on our club emails and organising the student lists. Your behind-the-scenes support keeps everything running smoothly, and it doesn't go unnoticed. Thank you for being such a brilliant team player! (From Dimitri Athanasopoulos)

Well done to Victoria Rivadeneyra for all the hard work she is putting into building our Secondary Student Council. You are creating a space where students feel proud to have a voice, share their ideas and make a positive change. It's not an easy task, but we are definitely on the right path. (From Dimitri Athanasopoulos)

A huge thank you to Joana Geraldo, Bárbara Dória and Maria Gomes for their dedication, care and commitment in creating the Middle School Portuguese books. A demanding project, carried out with great attention to detail and a strong sense of purpose, which will certainly make a real difference to our students. (From Joana Cunha)

I would like to thank the Primary team for managing to submit all the study visit requests in advance, even despite the setbacks. Thank you for your commitment to finding solutions and making things happen. (from Diogo Santos)

RECRUIT

WE’RE LOOKING FOR A NEW:

IT, ICT & Computer Science Teacher for Middle and Secondary
Head Teacher for Primary

If you know someone who might be interested, please let us know.

EXCEPTIONAL AUTHORISATION FOR CHILDREN TO STAY ON SCHOOL PREMISES

Due to the General Public Administration Strike on 2 October, which will affect a number of essential services, the school is authorising, on an exceptional basis, the children of staff members aged 3 and over to stay on school premises on 2 October.

SCHOOL CALENDAR

Stay up to date with all important dates, events and deadlines in our internal calendar: Internal Calendar – click here

RECEIVED A DOCUMENT FROM A STUDENT?

We kindly ask all teachers and staff to forward any student documents they receive to the Admissions Office.

ACTION RESEARCH PROGRAMME

We are happy to announce that we will once again be running our Action Research Programme, open to all Aprendizes staff, both teaching and non-teaching.

The Application to participate in the Action Research Programme (Deadline: 6 October) – Fill out form is now open, with the deadline on Tuesday, 6 October.

This is a fantastic opportunity to research your own practice, perhaps together with colleagues, and to explore and test new and better ways of doing things.

Once again, Phil and Helen Whitehead from the UK will guide and support our researchers. Phil will be available online on Wednesday, 30 September at 16:30 to introduce the programme and answer any questions you may have.

The programme combines face-to-face workshops, online sessions, individual and team coaching, ongoing support from the research facilitator, and access to our dedicated Action Research Google Site, with a range of resources: https://sites.google.com/view/aprendizes-research-cohort-3/home?pli=1&authuser=0. The research group will have four formal face-to-face meetings:

6–7 November (Friday afternoon and Saturday morning)
29–30 January (Friday afternoon and Saturday morning)
12–13 March (Friday afternoon and Saturday morning)
Week commencing 24 May, leading up to the Professional Development INSET Day on 28 May

Please note that participation in all planned sessions, both face-to-face and online, is mandatory. The €500 stipend will be paid upon full participation in the programme and completion of the final workshop.

This year, research should connect to our whole-school focus, Student Retention, and to our pedagogical focus, Student Agency.

Projects connected to the following areas will be particularly encouraged:

Retention and Belonging: community, relationships, wellbeing, inclusion, behaviour, restorative practice, transitions and student voice.
Student-Centred Learning: choice, ownership, Project-Based Learning (PBL), assessment, feedback and self-directed learning, including approaches that respond to SEN, neurodiversity, different starting points and multilingual learners.
Student-Centred Governance: student voice, assemblies, councils, leadership and participation in decision-making.
Student-Centred Community Actions: Houses, volunteering, peer support, community responsibility and student-led initiatives.

We hope many of you will take this opportunity to become researchers of your own practice and contribute to our shared learning as a school.

CONTRIBUTION

If you take home leftovers from lunch, please remember to always leave a contribution.

OFFICIAL INTERNAL COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

Email is the main and official channel for work-related communication.

Teams should be used to store important information and documents, and for updates within team groups, including urgent operational messages such as running late for work.

WhatsApp groups are unofficial channels and should not be used for work communication.

NEW M45 BUS LINE: NOW STOPPING AT APRENDIZES

Did you know there's a new way to get to school? Cascais City Council has launched the MobiCascais M45 line, which stops near our school. This circular route connects Malveira da Serra, Torre and Cidadela, and could be a great alternative for anyone living in these areas who would like to leave the car at home. The service started on 14 September 2026 and runs on weekdays.

You can find the full route and timetable here: M45 Timetable 2026

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD) GUIDELINES 2026/27

We are sharing the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Guidelines for 2026/27. This document sets out our training priorities, the opportunities available, the rules for financial support and the approval process for requests. As a reminder, every staff member must complete a minimum of 40 hours of CPD per academic year and keep their CPD Record up to date.

Please read the full document: click here. If you have any questions, please contact the CPD Committee.

Primary

Middle

Secondary

Whole Community

Staff

BIO MARKET LANGUAGES EDITION

Tomorrow, 25 September, from 16:15 to 18:00, in the tent

We are opening the school year by celebrating what makes this school so particular: the many languages that cross paths in our corridors every day. The first Bio Market of 2026/27 is the Languages Edition, held on the eve of the European Day of Languages.

You do not need a stall to take part. Come and walk through the tent, taste, talk and discover how many languages fit into one afternoon.

Community

PTSO MEETING

The next PTSO (Parents, Teachers and Students Organization) meeting will take place on 29 September, 2026, at 16:00 in the Library. This meeting is only for the members already elected for this academic year.. This is a great opportunity to collaborate and strengthen our school 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

NORDIC APPROACH TO EDUCATION WORKSHOP

As part of Erasmus Days, we invite our entire school community to join us for a workshop on the Nordic Approach to Education, on 13 October, from 17:00 to 18:30, in our Library.

The Nordic approach is an important pillar of our educational philosophy, reflected in principles such as equality and inclusion, wellbeing and care, autonomy and trust, holistic and project-based learning, cooperation rather than competition, and connection with nature.

Over the past year, several of our teachers visited Northern European countries through Erasmus+ exchanges, while we also welcomed Swedish colleagues and German students to share experiences and best practices.

This workshop is an opportunity to bring those learnings together and share them with our community.

To register: Workshop: Nordic Education - Learning from Erasmus + for Schools – Fill in form

ART AT PRE-SCHOOL

At pre-school, art class meant paintbrushes in hand and colour everywhere. Our youngest students painted, mixed tones and let their imagination guide every stroke. A simple, colourful morning of experimenting and discovering — art, just the way we love to live it at Aprendizes.

PRIMARY SCHOOL ELECTIONS

This year's candidates made their case from home: students ran for office through videos sent in by their families. Yesterday, it was their classmates' turn to decide. Ballot boxes opened, and primary students voted for their representatives, with seriousness and enthusiasm. Citizenship in practice, from an early age.

MIDDLE SCHOOL ELECTIONS

The middle school also held assembly elections, class by class. In most, the result was clear. In one class, however, the top candidates ended in a tie. To settle it fairly, that class will hold a new round of voting. Democracy in practice — ties included.

SECONDARY SCHOOL ELECTIONS

At secondary level, campaigning happened live: candidates addressed their own classes before the vote. Once elected, representatives spoke again — this time in front of the whole secondary school, with a short thank-you speech. Leadership, voice and responsibility, in action from day one.

NEWS FROM THE KITCHEN

INTERNATIONAL DAYS IN THE KITCHEN:
15 OCT | Mexico

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