Aspire International School: “We are genuine and real here”

With an incredible staff and a differentiated school system, their activities began in January 2020.

Despite the pandemic, the school thrived, and Kathryn Germain and Ian Bailey, along with other teachers, could not be any prouder of what they have achieved with their school.

TPN: How can your school's education system be defined?

KG: We talk a lot about our philosophy of educating the whole child, which means a lot of things. It means that we see each child as an individual with strengths, weaknesses, talents, and abilities, and we meet those children where they are and bring them forward. If they need additional support or additional stretch or challenge, we can do that within our structures. But it also means things like highlighting sports, art or drama talents. These elements are prioritised alongside academic achievement.

IB: What makes us different, I think, is the maximum of 12 pupils in each class. This means that we can support our children because we get to know them so well. We build positive working relationships with our students every day. We are much more aware of the challenges that they are facing on a day-to-day basis.

How would you describe the teachers that work at your school?

IB: One thing I want to say is that I believe that all teachers in every school try their best for their students on a daily basis. I have a lot of respect for the teaching profession. I am a teacher; Kathryn is as well. The teacher standing before the students is the single most vital element in education, more essential than any other factor in shaping learning and academic success.

KG: I think that it makes a difference that this is a school run by teachers. Ian and I still teach every day. We are not distant administrators tucked away in an office—we are actively engaged in the life of the school,

IB: We employ teachers who've got great energy, who are professional and generally have a lot of experience. I would say that we try our very best not to micromanage our staff but rather trust in their professionalism to move these children forward educationally and support them pastorally.

TPN: How does the good relationship between teachers and students affect learning?

KG: This is probably the circle that we speak about quite often: that happy staff, make happy children, make happy parents, make happy directors. If our teachers can feel supported and appreciated, hopefully, that will make them shine in the classroom and give students the best experience possible, which means our students go home and tell their parents what fantastic lessons they are receiving and then the parents come and tell us that they're happy.

IB: I think we have been able to develop quite a sweet spot where we formed a happy environment for the teachers and the children.

TPN: Who can attend your school?

IB: We have children at our school from the age of three up to 18 years old. We follow the UK curriculum and offer GCSE and A levels. For secondary, speaking English is going to be a prerequisite, though we can provide support if students have English as an additional language. In primary, we tend to follow a bilingual structure; all of our teachers and assistants in primary have fluency in Portuguese and English, giving the children the opportunity to learn Portuguese if it is not their first language. I think it reflects our commitment to making our school part of the wider community of the Algarve.

TPN: Why should people enrol in your school?

KG: I think the small class sizes, the positive working relationships, the beautiful atmosphere here. And that idea of being able to push and challenge, you know, we have students who, for example, are doing A-levels in year 10.

IB: Because the experienced staff that we have are amazing specialists. We get fantastic results at GCSE and A-level, and our children reach the goals they set for themselves.

TPN: What is the feedback from your school’s community?

IB: We have always valued and sought out feedback regularly. We ask for pupil feedback, parent feedback and teacher feedback. There are always some ideas they would like to see, some improvements, for example. But generally, people love coming here. It's a happy place.

TPN: What are the plans for the future of your school?

IB: To maintain the quality of education that we have at the moment. We want to make sure that we keep the high standards that we already have in place. We know that there is always room for improvement, and we hope to go from strength to strength.

KG: Yes, the plan is just to keep improving as best we can. I guess our focus now is the facilities and the site itself. And we are so lucky that we have the support of our landlord.

TPN: Why is your school different from other international schools?

KG: It is operated by two teachers - not by a multi-national company focused on the profit motive. We just want to create the best school that we can. We are here every day, seeing the parents and greeting the students. Our smallness is our strength. We are genuine and real here, and I think that is what makes us different.

For further information about Aspire International School, please visit www.aspireinternational.school/ or email learn@aspireinternational.school

Deeply in love with music and with a guilty pleasure in criminal cases, Bruno G. Santos decided to study Journalism and Communication, hoping to combine both passions into writing. The journalist is also a passionate traveller who likes to write about other cultures and discover the various hidden gems from Portugal and the world. Press card: 8463. 

Bruno G. Santos