EB1/PE Cruz de Carvalho is a primary and kindergarten school located in the heart of Funchal (the largest city on the island of Madeira). It is located in the western part of the city, in the middle of the Hospital district. Funchal is a city with over 500 years of history. Founded in 1510, the island’s capital offers a historical and charming context, set in a strong landscape between the sea and the majestic mountains. Its history can be witnessed step by step throughout the city, which has given the city a cosmopolitan character over the centuries. The many tall ships, steamships and modern ships that dock in Funchal’s busy port have brought new customs to the city. Today, Funchal has 110,000 inhabitants and it has become a city with an urban and sophisticated character. Its natural beauty and easy access to the rest of the island are the main reasons why most hotels are located here… It is the perfect starting point to explore Madeira’s most remote and natural secrets. Some say that the town is called “Funchal” because of the abundance of a plant called “Funcho” (fennel) encountered by the early settlers. The school was opened in 1981 and it currently has almost 250 students divided into classes between the ages of 3-11. We have 11 classes (3 preschool and 2 for each class). In kindergarten we have 73 students and in primary school 179. Of these students, 30 have special needs (learning difficulties and/or disabilities). There are 37 teachers in the school (curriculum, arts, physical education, ICT, special needs, study and music).Half of the school’s students are from low-income families. Several were taken from their families (they didn’t have the conditions to keep them) and another small group of students are from immigrant families (mostly from Eastern Europe). The education system in Madeira Island is a little different from mainland Portugal. Most public schools have divided classes. Years I and II (children aged 6-8) have curriculum classes in the morning and Years III and IV (students aged 8-10) have curriculum classes in the afternoon. They have extracurricular activities in the schedule opposite to the curriculum hours. Once a week we develop a project in the extracurricular program that allows the students to choose between 4/5 activities (it can be something like exploring the city, healthy food, paper making, etc…) The students are not organized by classes, but are divided according to what what they want to do. Our school is involved annually in projects related to: Environment – Eco-Escolas (National Environment Project), Coding and Computational Thinking – (GMTE – Local Educational Authorities), Escolartes – Performing Arts (DSEAM – Local Educational Authorities), Desporto Escolar ( School sports) – Sports competitions – (DSTE – Local Educational Authorities), Little Euro Guides – Erasmus+ Project, Water source and sewerage – Erasmus+ Project. Gosto Disto – School Project – Students select the projects they want to participate in once every 6 weeks. During this period, one day a week, they have to investigate, explore, discuss the topic and present the results on the last day. All these projects use problem-based learning and the project-based learning method, Risk and Protection – Safety Project (Civil Protection – Local Authorities). In addition to the curriculum teachers, we have a very specialized thing as an ICT teacher, an English teacher, a music teacher, an art teacher, a PE teacher and also four special needs teachers. Integrating all these specialties into the curriculum allows us to promote better and more effective approaches, resulting in more meaningful learning for students. With this project we expect to be able to create other teaching approaches.
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