Escola Secundária Cacilhas-Tejo           https://escacilhastejo.org

Cacilhas-Tejo Secondary School is a high school situated in Almada. The school community includes about 1900 students over 15 years old (1000 between 15/18 years old and 900 adult learners), 140 teachers and 48 school assistants (technical, administrative and support staff). The school offers general education courses (Science and Technology, Economics, Humanistic and Arts) and professional courses (Marketing, Tourism, Graphic Design, Management, and Informatics. The students can have extracurricular activities such as Dance, Cinema, Theater or Sports and they are encouraged to participate in local, national and international competitions. In the evening the school offers different courses and levels for adult education (basic and secondary education and Portuguese as a Foreign Language). The school educational project has established its mission as "to provide the community with a qualified educational, public service, able to promote knowledge, thus contributing to citizens' upbringing who are both aware of their duties and rights and are able to transform reality, in an open, integrating and proactive atmosphere."

By participating in international projects, the school provides its students with new experiences and learnings which allows them to set up new contacts and experience new educational practices that contribute to their growth as citizens.

Active citizenship implies the person's involvement not only in personal matters but also in the labor market, something that might be extended to experiences abroad. In addition, students engaged in international projects may be offered opportunities that otherwise would be probably unreachable. This project will be an excellent opportunity to motivate both students and teachers. We believe that students will greatly benefit from the project by developing their ITC and transparency-level skills in areas such as problem-solving, critical thinking as well as language, ethics, cooperation, and intercultural dialogue. Besides, the teachers involved in the project will have the opportunity to develop pedagogic and educational approaches and share their experiences. Through collaborative activities, all of them will develop skills and knowledge which will be essential for them. The key people in charge of running the project will be the History teacher M. Margarida Lucena and the Principal, Margarita Fonseca. ITC teacher P. Pereira and G. Rodrigues, respectively, will take over their role if something unpredictable occurs. However, another teacher will be prepared to take over leadership role because several of them will be active partners on it, selected from relevant departments as ITC, History, English, and Arts, strongly supported by the Principal. We participate in an Erasmus+ project (2019/21), developing skills in managing and coordinating activities with European partners. This experience is a strong encouragement and really successfully as a good example of innovation and collaboration.