Agrupamento de Escolas de São João da Talha, Secondary School

Our institution is composed of four primary schools with kindergarten, a middle education school and a secondary school with professional education. For 1296 students, there are 162 teachers, 10 administrative technicians and 91 operational assistants. Our students belong to a lower middle class, where 50% of students benefit from social support. It is situated in the village of S. João da Talha in a disadvantaged urban area of the suburbs of Lisbon, with 17,252inhabitants (2011’census), in several neighbourhoods, mostly of illegal genesis. Small industry and commerce are the dominant sectors. In the parish there is a gypsy community, whose children represent a minority group. Also In the parish, there is the National Refugee Reception Center, a reason for the integration of different nationalities in the local community. The classrooms have students from multiple regions of the world, reflecting a great multiculturalism (Angola, Algeria, Brazil, Cape Verde, Colombia, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, France, Ghana, Guinea, India, Iraq, Mali, Morocco, Moldova, Nepal, Republic of Congo, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Syria, Somalia, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela). Currently, the group has students with the refugee status from Angola, Iraq, Republic of Congo, Syria and Venezuela (with the status of exiles), Colombia, Eritrea, Ghana and Rwanda.

Also the school has a total of 150 students with special educational needs, with two Student Support Units for deep disabilities. Students’ disabilities vary from a physical, emotional, behavioral, or learning disability to impairment. The school provides additional or specialized services. In addition the school tries to work together with social services, NGOs and families.

The aim of our school is to follow the paradigm of inclusion by ICT.

We wish to:

a) improve the inclusion and integration of special needs students, by improving their digital competences and thus enhancing their social, cultural and linguistic competencies;

b) improve students' school integration and therefore scholar’s success by using ICT applications for special education

c) increase the collaborative work among peers from different sectors, universities, schools, NGOs

d) contact and observe other European realities, allowing the comparison of experiences and good practices.

The School Group has a long experience in international participation in the Comenius program and projects such as the host school for young teachers from different countries. It was a partner in several KA2 Erasmus+ projects and KA1 Erasmus+ projects for staff and Job shadowing. In addition, has multiple peer-led projects in several national school networks and support of establishments of Higher Education and Center of teachers training, using etwinning, and also has as main partner the Lisbon University.

Website https://sites.google.com/a/aesjt.pt/agrupamento-de-escolas-de-s-joao-da-talha/