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Schooling in Portugal: everything you need to know about the school system

Envie de Lisbonne makes it easy for families to arrive

Moving as a family to a new country can raise a lot of questions, especially when it comes to sending children to school. Portugal is attracting more and more working people, who, following a professional opportunity or a new chapter in their lives, are taking the whole family with them!

Here are a few points to help you understand the Portuguese school system and make the right decision to move abroad.

To begin with, it's important to understand the Portuguese school system.

School is compulsory from the age of 6. Before that, your child will make his or her first friends according to the following schedule:

Early life: the “berçarios” welcome babies up to the age of 11 months,
Petite enfance : les « infantários» accueillent les jeunes enfants de 11 mois à 3 ans,
Ages 3 to 6: the "Pré-Escolar" or "Jardim da Infância" serves as our nursery classes,
CP to CM1: the "Ensino Básico de 1° ciclo " covers an important part of our elementary school,
Du CM2 à la 3^ème: la «Ensino Básico de 2° e 3° ciclo » va correspondre aux années collège, le 2° ciclo correspond à nos CM2 et 6^ème et le 3° cicle les 3 années suivantes,
De la 2^nde à la Terminale : le « Ensino Secundário» est le lycée tel que nous le connaissons en France.

Des établissements proposent des enseignements regroupant plusieurs « ciclos » mais il est à penser qu’en fonction de l’âge de vos enfants, vous vous retrouviez avec des établissements différents si par exemple vous avez un enfant au 1° ciclo et un enfant au 2° ciclo.

This diagram shows the correspondences between the French and Portuguese systems: the meeting point of the 2 systems is the 6^ème class!

What about school vacations?

School vacations are different from those in France. There are no All Saints' or winter vacations in Portugal. However, summer vacations are longer (almost 3 months), and children can take advantage of Carnival (long weekends off) and Easter (1 week).

The Portuguese school system: a high-performance system!

Education in Portugal is very successful, especially in foreign languages.

Portugal is the 7th non-English-speaking country in the world with the best level of English, just behind the Scandinavian countries, according to the "EF English Proficiency 2020" index. Portugal thus joins the select group of top-performing countries!

The same goes for mathematics... for example, according to TIMMS at CM1 level, for a good understanding of mathematics, on a 600-point scale, Portugal is rated at 525 points (compared with 483 points for France).

source : https://www.casavergao.com/ecole-au-portugal/

Once you've settled in, how do you enroll your children in school?

Jusqu’à l’âge de 6 ans, les inscriptions en « berçários », « Infantários » et « Jardim de Infância » se font directement auprès des établissements de vos quartiers de résidence. Nous conseillons de prendre le temps de visiter les infrastructures pour découvrir l’environnement et pour comprendre les méthodologies d’éveil pratiquées.

A noter : il est fréquent qu’un enseignement catholique fasse partie des programmes même si souvent cela reste très léger.

Costs at private facilities generally range from 250 to 450 euros, depending on the area. It's worth bearing in mind that opening hours are very wide, generally from 7.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m.

There are also public schools, whose costs - which are more affordable - are generally calculated according to your income. However, when you first move to Portugal, it's quite difficult to arrange public schooling during the "pre-school" period, although it's easier to do so once schooling is officially compulsory.

First and foremost, to enroll your child in a school in Portugal, you need to provide proof of residency. Your child will be assigned to a school according to your place of residence and the availability of new pupils. If you don't get the school you're looking for, you can try again the following year. And don't forget that, for public schools, enrolment takes place over a short period of time, generally one week a year.

Public or private education: which to choose?

There are many schools in Portugal to suit all tastes.

Portuguese public schoolswith school fees close to zero,
Portuguese private schools, with tuition fees varying widely from school to school,
The French lycée (in Lisbon and Porto), with "classic" French teaching bonnified by Portuguese language courses: from the first section of kindergarten to the final year.
International schools, for example in the Lisbon area: Redbridge School or Palmela International School, with teaching according to Portuguese or international standards.

Depending on your budget, the length of your stay in Portugal and your convictions, you'll find the school that's right for you and, above all, right for your child.

Les enfants francophones : sejam bem-vindos !

Don't panic, your children will be very welcome in Portugal.

Pour ceux qui ne parlent pas (encore) le portugais, ils seront accompagnés par des professeurs de portugais PLNM : Português Língua Não Materna (Portugais, langue non maternelle). Ce sont des cours spéciaux mis en place pour les élèves étrangers pour les aider dans l’apprentissage de leur nouvelle langue. Ils sont donnés en petits groupes et se déroulent lorsque le reste de la classe est en cours de portugais. Une chose est certaine : vos enfants parleront portugais avant vous si vous arrivez sans connaître la langue ! 🙂

A vos côtés pour réussir !

Envie de Lisbonne kan hjelpe deg med å finne de riktige skolene og vil stå ved din side i alle administrative formaliteter, følge deg til de skolene og barnehagene du ønsker å besøke og gi deg all den veiledningen du trenger.