Nursery

Small steps, big achievments

The child needs to feel welcomed, safe and happy the first time she experiences an educational place. We want the nursery to feel like a second home to everyone, so we promote a healthy and trusting environment between the school and families, facilitating the connection between the various contexts of the child’s life.

Valuing the first years of life

The first years of their life are very important for their development and should be valued as such. During this period, children possess great neurological and cognitive plasticity, which allows learning to happen naturally, quickly, and with satisfaction. By combining quality care with intentionally structured pedagogical practices, the experiences offered by our nursery—motor, cognitive, social, and emotional—stimulate curiosity, creativity, and language development, building knowledge through active exploration and interaction with the environment.

Educational practices that respect each child’s pace.

Our project requires educators to have a close understanding of each child. The pedagogical practices adopted are based on attentive observation and respect for each child’s individual pace.

Through observation of interactions, activities, and experiences—both planned and unplanned—the aim is for children to reach ideal levels of maturity, development, and learning.

To play is to Learn

In this process, values ​​such as the importance of play, affection, and socialisation gain greater importance. Play is the child’s main activity, and it is through play that adults, through active listening, become aware of their interests and needs. Children learn with their whole bodies and senses, and it is through play that they concretize this learning. Affection and emotional connection are fostered by the presence of reference adults, with a sensitive and responsive approach.

Complementary Activities

Nursery plays an essential role in the full development of the child. To enrich experiences and learning, we integrate complementary activities aimed at helping children discover and harmoniously develop their potential.

Sensory stimulation plays a fundamental role in the early development of human being; therefore, we immerse our students in an environment of emotions, visual, auditory, and kinesthetic stimuli.

Preschool

A World to Discover

Early childhood education plays a central role in a child’s learning journey and holistic development. It’s the time when they begin to discover the world with new eyes, gain autonomy, and question what they see and feel.

Essential skills develop during this phase—from language and fine and gross motor skills to autonomy and the ability to socialize. Therefore, it’s fundamental to encourage and value curiosity. Giving children time and space to observe, feel, explore, share, and imagine allows each learning experience to be truly assimilated.

At Escola Pátio da Inês, we believe that to play is not just to have fun: it’s a powerful pedagogical tool that promotes creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Given the growing concern about early screen exposure, we reinforce the statement by professor and researcher Carlos Neto: “Is urgent To Play!”

Socio-emocional Development

By interacting in groups, children learn to share, cooperate, and respect each other, developing autonomy, a sense of common good, empathy for others, and self-confidence.

The safe, welcoming, and close-knit environment, where each child is individually supported, respecting their pace and identity, gives them space to explore and reach their full potential.

Our pedagogical practices are based on humanist values, forming ethically responsible, empathetic citizens capable of critically thinking about the world.

Art as a powerful learning engine

We understand that art, in its different dimensions, is a powerful engine for learning. In Early Childhood Education, artistic activities are integrated into projects in the fields of language, mathematics, science, motor expression, and personal and social development.

By promoting structured learning within a playful and socially enriching context, activities such as music, art, and symbolic play become bridges to acquisitions that go far beyond the classroom—helping to develop autonomy, language, cooperation, and self-confidence.

Nature and freedom

The good quality of the facilities and enjoyment of the school’s green spaces contribute to the development of cognitive, social, emotional, and motor skills that are fundamental to education.

We promote contact with nature through walks and frequent visits to the vegetable garden and the “mud kitchen,” as a way to encourage autonomous discovery, connection with natural space, the possibility of encountering risk and the unexpected, and the exploration of the sense of freedom.

Primary School

Active and Cooperative Learning

Primary is an important stage in a child’s school journey. It is here that fundamental learning such as reading, writing, arithmetic, and logical reasoning is consolidated, but also essential values ​​for community life and socio-emotional skills.

We know that this stage is marked by major changes in a child´s life – more responsibilities, greater autonomy, and the first academic challenges. Therefore, close monitoring by teachers and families is essential. We work side-by-side with parents to ensure that each student finds security, support and encouragement on their educational journey.

Rooted in a scientific and artistic culture with a humanistic foundation, students’ skills and competencies are valued and encouraged. Curriculum content is acquired through a daily learning environment that is enjoyable and motivating, stimulating curiosity, imagination, entrepreneurship, and success.

Organised into four classrooms, divided by school year, each class has a main teacher who accompanies the group throughout the 4 years, promoting continuity in the work.

Prepared for the future

Far more than just learning school subjects, primary school education is the beginning of building skills that will accompany the child throughout their life. This learning forms the solid foundation for the academic challenges to come, but also for life in society.

At Escola Pátio da Inês, we help our students discover and develop their potential by encouraging autonomy, stimulating critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability – essential qualities for facing a constantly changing world.

Alongside families, we cultivate not only the love of learning, but also confidence, responsibility, and resilience—values ​​that will be the foundation of their academic and personal journey. With a comprehensive and innovative curriculum, diverse in experiences, students grow as well-rounded human beings, prepared for the future.

360º Learning – Learning without fear of making mistakes

We believe that learning should be a stimulating and engaging process. Therefore, we offer our students a school experience that places them at the center of their education, respecting the individuality, personality, and pace of each one.

We value active learning: seeing, hearing, questioning, experimenting, imagining, dialoguing, solving, designing, and executing. Starting with their interests and needs, we combine structured pedagogical methods with experiential, expository, and participatory processes that make learning meaningful and motivating, and allow them to truly integrate new learning.

In a creative and cooperative environment, our students flourish without fear of making mistakes and build their learning process with freedom, autonomy, and a critical spirit.