I would like to begin by sincerely thanking all of you for your presence and participation at our Family Afternoon last week. The event was a wonderful success and reflected the strong sense of community that continues to grow within our school. Following such positive feedback and engagement, we are delighted to confirm that this will now become an annual event in our school calendar, and we look forward to expanding and developing it further in the years ahead.
Parental involvement remains central to the Forfar Education approach, and throughout this academic year we have continued to strengthen collaboration between school and families. We have held a large number of one-to-one meetings, launched the “Café com Pais” initiative following the enthusiasm and initiative of our parent community, and established our Parent Representative Group, which has already held two productive meetings and will hold a third and final meeting for this academic year at the beginning of June.
The informative and constructive contributions from parents have been extremely valuable. As a result, next year the Parent Representative Group will become more structured, ideally with one representative parent per class, and meetings organised according to different sections of the school – Primary, Secondary and Senior/Secundário. Further information regarding this structure will be shared at the start of the next academic year, with the aim of holding meetings every two months with the Head of School, the President of the Pedagogical College and other colleagues where appropriate.
Thank you to all the pioneering parents who have participated in this initiative during its first year.
I would also like to update you regarding the formalisation and official recognition of the school’s Pedagogical College structure, which differs from the organisational structure established by the previous administration. We had been awaiting formal recognition from IGEC (Inspeção-Geral da Educação e Ciência) and DGEstE (Direção-Geral dos Estabelecimentos Escolares) before sharing, and after six months this was officially confirmed through the dispatch issued on May 5th.
By way of explanation, the school’s Pedagogical College team currently consists of:
- Daniela Sousa – Director of Creche and Preschool
- Nancy Oliveira – Director of Cambridge Curriculum
- Soraia Silva – Director of National Curriculum
- Filomena Martins – Director of Dual Diploma and Cambridge Exams Officer
Filomena Martins is the elected President of the Pedagogical College and, alongside the Head of School, is designated to liaise with the Ministry of Education on matters of compliance and regulation.
The Pedagogical College works closely with the Pedagogical Council, which additionally includes Alexandre Costa, Director of Class Teachers, and Teresa Vicente, School Psychologist. Together, they discuss pedagogical, behavioural and educational matters across all curricula within the school.
The two teams are responsible for helping shape the educational direction and pedagogical focus of the school, in conjunction with the Head of School, to ensure a coherent whole-school approach. Given the size of the school and the diversity of programmes and curricula offered, this structure has proven increasingly effective in bringing the school together around shared pedagogical approaches and priorities. Throughout this year, teaching teams have spent time researching and discussing areas such as metacognition, Artificial Intelligence in education, interdisciplinary learning and experiential learning, with the aim of developing a broader and more varied approach to educating our students across the school.
This team meets very regularly, usually weekly, and meetings are attended by the Head of School. The purpose of this collaborative approach is to ensure shared understanding, cross-curricular collaboration, collective problem-solving and coordinated planning for whole-school events and operations. Throughout this year, this model has become increasingly embedded within the school and has created a strong and stable foundation for the future.
One current example of this collaborative planning relates to the national assessment tests, which begin on Friday, May 29th and continue until the second week of June. These tests always present operational challenges for schools and require significant staffing support. EITV remains committed to continuing learning for all students throughout this period, whilst also ensuring the smooth and professional organisation of the tests. For most test sessions, at least sixteen members of staff are required to support the process, which inevitably creates some disruption to normal routines. However, we will ensure that all classes continue learning and remain fully supervised throughout the testing period. Please also note that one of the test days falls on June 5th. As this date had previously been identified as a school holiday in the annual calendar, only students taking the tests and key staff members will be required to attend school on that day.
I would also like to share that during April the school successfully completed a full IGEC inspection process. This comprehensive inspection focused on areas including pedagogy and educational quality, governance, health and safety, human resources, compliance and strategic planning. We have received a positive interim report following the inspection, with some recommendations for continued development, but overall encouraging feedback regarding the school across these areas. The full report is expected to be issued around October and will be linked on the school website. Alongside our colleagues, I would also like to thank the parents and students who met with the inspection team during the process.
Lastly, I would like to thank all of you for your continued engagement with the school. Every member of our team is here with the sole intention of positively impacting your child’s education, and we remain deeply committed to providing the very best learning experiences for all students. We fully recognise that, in any school community, concerns or frustrations may occasionally arise, and we always welcome open and constructive communication. At the same time, we kindly ask that all communication with colleagues remains respectful and professional, reflecting the shared positive intentions we all have in supporting our students.
Thank you once again for your trust, support and partnership.
Warm regards,
.
EITV, May 22nd, 2026
Head of School
Kate Sommerville