HEADMASTER'S WELCOME

A very warm welcome to the website of Oporto British School, or OBS as we are colloquially known. The School was fully accredited by Council of International Schools (CIS) in 2005.

The School takes great pride that it was founded in 1894 and is the oldest British School in Continental Europe. As you will see from our Mission and Philosophy statements, our aim is to provide an enriching educational experience through a well structured and varied curriculum, that meet the needs of the individual student. In addition, the School is very aware of its links to the local community of Porto and the culture of Portugal.  OBS has a reputation of being a very ‘family ’orientated School and there are strong links between all stakeholders in the school community.

In the Primary Section of the School, we start with Prep (aged 4) and go through to Form 5 (aged 11). The curriculum is based on the English National Curriculum (Key Stages 1 & 2).  Portuguese is also taught throughout the Primary years. The Senior Section follows Key Stage 3, IGCSE and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.  In both the IGCSE and IB, the school regularly achieves results above recognised averages. Our graduating students attend both UK and Portuguese universities for their tertiary studies. 

A school is not complete without a busy extra-curricular programme and this is certainly the case at OBS.  There are Drama productions for both the Primary and Secondary section as well an Arts Festival and Music lessons.  The School enjoys a good sporting reputation and regularly competes in tournaments locally and in Lisbon.   We are also well on the way to becoming a Green Flag school, and continue to promote eco friendly initiatives in the School.  For the past two years our IB students have travelled to Uganda as part of the IB CAS programme and assisted the organisation, PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools) in funding and building projects for a school in Kampala.

There are many critical factors that blend to make an international School successful. At OBS there is a very strong sense of being proactive and innovative with regards curriculum delivery and strategic planning for the future.  As we enter the latter half of the first decade of the twenty first century, a major goal of the OBS is to provide an excellent holistic education that meets the demands for the twenty first century child.  

Welcome to our family and I hope you enjoy the website.

David Butcher
Headmaster