Portugal

Our school

Agrupamento de Escolas Cónego Dr. Manuel Lopes Perdigão was established on ordinance No. 823/89, published in the Official Gazette of Portugal (Diário da República No. 214 of 16 April 1989) and it started operating in the school year 1990-1991.

This school group aggregates the northernmost part of the municipality of Ourém and its parishes: Caxarias, Rio de Couros, Casal dos Bernardos, Espite, and Urqueira, with an area of about 120 Km2.

It currently includes seven kindergartens (3-5- year-olds), seven primary schools (6-9-year-old) and a middle school (10-15-year-olds) totalling 500 students, 57 teachers and 40 school aids.

Our application is based on the experience acquired in the previous project which gave us the opportunity to broaden the students' horizons, making them aware of their citizenship in Europe and expanding their knowledge of new realities and cultures related either to rural or urban environments, to strengthen their recognition of the importance of preserving the local versus global environment bearing in mind the importance of proactive attitudes for the preservation of our planet and to improve both students' and teachers' communication and ICT skills.

The main purpose of our Project Group is to contribute to the personal, social and cultural promotion of students, teachers and all the school community of Caxarias to a more conscious and compromised society in the construction of a fair, equitable and sustainable world, reinforcing the Global Communities Citizenship practice, through the reflection, education and action of Global Ecology.

This is an excellent opportunity for a small community, where the future expectations are not usually very ambitious, to broaden their perspectives and widen their horizons. Also for the development and promotion of language skills as well as the reinforcement of innovative and culturally enriching learning experiences by integrating new cultures, new knowledges, new ways of life and new forms of teaching and learning.

Furthermore, for the acknowledgment and applicability of the European values outlined in the European Union Treaty (respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, justice, solidarity, tolerance, among others).

In order to have a successful project for this community, the working team has ten teachers from different scientific areas and subjects, coordinated by the School Headmaster Cláudia Campos and the teachers Hélder Pereira and Anabela Silva.

The school has already participated in projects like “Escola Saudavelmente”; “Escola Voluntária” “Ca(u)sa Comum – Cidadania Global e Ecologia Integral” and in the Project “Eco-Escolas” – International Programme of the “Foundation for Environmental Education”. These projects intend to encourage actions and recognize the quality work developed by the school, with the purview of an Environmental Education to Sustainability and Health.

WORK FOR FIRST MOBILITY - BULGARIA