Principal´s Welcome
Welcome to APSoL! Thank you for showing an interest in our school.
It was with great enthusiasm and excitement that we opened our doors for the first time, in September 2020 with our first cohort of Reception children. As the Principal, it is an honour to embark on this adventure opening the first bilingual school in London with Portuguese. Due to opening with a single cohort and growing the school year-on-year with another Reception cohort, this has enabled the team to know each child personally and valuing them as individuals.
As a school, independently of the challenges of opening a school during a global pandemic, we are fully committed to providing each child with the best possible standard of education, growing confident learners and citizens of the world. In creating a curriculum that is exciting, relevant and innovative, we believe that we are providing our children with the skills and mindset to needed to navigate their futures. Our various enrichment and wider curriculum opportunities, empower our children to be what they want to be and give them the self-confidence to know that they can do this.
Since the opening of APSoL, I have felt humbled by the involvement and dedication of the team and the support and gratitude of our school community, particularly our parents, bringing a level of normality to school life and making our first year a success. It has been incredibly heart-warming to see how resilient and eager our children are to come to school despite the challenges many have faced due to the pandemic.
I look forward to welcoming more APSoL families through the door and seeing our school grow from one cohort, Reception 2020, to full capacity, with Year 6 in 2026.
Marta Correia
Principal
About the Principal
Marta has over five years of experience working in bilingual schools and has been the Headteacher at Judith Kerr Primary School in Southwark, another bilingual primary in the City. In her early career, Marta worked as an SLE (specialist leader of education) for the Lambeth Teaching School Alliance where she was able to support schools with various aspects of teaching and learning. In addition, Marta’s experience working in multi-cultural and diverse schools in London and Portugal supported her understanding of best practice in multi-language settings and how children acquire a new language.
She has a wealth of experience in both teaching and management, having worked at Wyvil Primary as English and Science Lead, Judith Kerr School as Assistant Headteacher and, most recently, as Headteacher since 2016. Under Marta’s leadership, the school has seen three consecutive years of high achievement across the board.
Marta was also instrumental in implementing the conversion of Judith Kerr from an adult learning institution to a primary school, liaising with funding agencies and architects to ensure that the work was completed efficiently whilst also maintaining a stable learning environment for the pupils. As such, she will bring invaluable experience to the remodeling and transformation of the school site as we prepare to open in a building in the west of South Thames College in Wandsworth in September 2020.
Marta’s specialised experience means that she is ready to deliver the bilingual model that we envision for APSoL by leading subject teachers as they divide the main subjects between English and Portuguese, immersing pupils in both languages and ensuring that all pupils make excellent academic progress in all subjects.
“I am tremendously excited to bring my experience in dual-language teaching to APSoL. At my current school, I manage two curricula for language learning that enable all learners to make good progress. I believe enquiry-based learning is vital when developing inquisitive minds – through thought-provoking questions that are going to enable children to think outside the box, deepen their understanding and become great problem solvers! I look forward to building an environment of mutual respect and high expectations at APSoL, giving every pupil the ideal opportunity to reach their potential.”