David Fitzgerald relates how two Portuguese edupreneurs partnered with Dukes Education to access the experience and backing they required to achieve their dream school

When Marco Carvalho and Sofia Chamusca acquired Colégio Júlio Dinis (CJD) in 2008, they had huge ambitions to develop a high-quality school to serve the families of Porto.

CJD is an independent schools in Portugal, founded in 1934. It was established with the aim of being a centre of innovative and high-quality education. The school’s namesake, the Portuguese novelist Júlio Dinis, was born in Porto and was a man of many other talents: medical doctor, poet and playwright. His mother was English, and his second novel, An English Family (1868), described English society in Porto so it is fitting that the international stream of the school now teaches the English curriculum.

Right from its inception, CJD was developed through the passion and ambitions of teachers and educators. When Carvalho and Chamusca took over the leadership of the school it had an emerging reputation and educated 163 pupils. In their first summer in charge, the couple worked alongside teachers and members of their community, painting, rebuilding and refurbishing their site. It was exactly that commitment and drive, alongside the support from their community, that saw the school grow rapidly in popularity. It became clear that to achieve their ambition for the school, they would need to find a supportive organisation that shared their vision and which was equally committed to making a difference to young people.

Carvalho and Chamusca received a large amount of interest in their school from excellent companies and went through a rigorous selection process that led to partnership with Dukes Education. The criteria for selecting the right partner went far beyond the ability to invest. The school needed a deeper relationship, one built on a fundamental alignment of cultural and philosophical beliefs. Carvalho and Chamusca went right back to their original ambitions and what they set out to achieve for the school, its community and Porto.

They explain: “We believe that education is a dynamic and holistic process whose goal is much more than learning content from different areas and disciplines. From our perspective, educating means making a significant contribution to the overall growth of our students, it means participating in a process that contributes to the formation of individuals who are aware of their social role and their place in an increasingly demanding and challenging world. At CJD we want to develop qualified, efficient and happy people, capable of realising individual dreams and taking part in collective projects.

“Colégio Júlio Dinis is proud to be a fully integrated partner of the Dukes Education family. We share the same values, and all believe that a school is defined by their people, people sometimes with different dreams, but always with a common goal – the happiness of our students and their families.”

Founded in 2015 by Aatif Hassan, Dukes Education operates to a set of values that are now shared with CJD:

We are a team – organisations work together to produce extraordinary outcomes. Dukes schools are independent, but they’re strengthened by being a valued part of the Dukes family that shares resources, best practice and expertise.

We do it well – Dukes schools strive for excellence in order to serve young learners.

We lead with heart – no one knows their school better than the head or principal who runs it, so they lead on every decision, preserving the individual character and ethos of their school. We celebrate the importance of the care and precision that goes into every decision regarding the future of the schools’ learners.

We love learning – this applies equally to pupils and staff throughout the Dukes family. Staff have access to the education sector’s largest learning and development programme with courses covering essential areas such as teaching practices, pastoral care and operational skills, as well as leadership programmes for staff and senior leaders.

When identifying a potential partner organisation, Dukes is highly selective about the people it invites to join the family. We are a close-knit group with strong values and ethics; we find like-minded institutions looking to contribute to the progress of our family and benefit from its support when it’s required. We are incredibly proud of all our schools and the fantastic work they are doing to serve their communities.

CJD marked joining Dukes Education by moving to a new site in 2023. Fittingly, given the life experiences of Júlio Dinis, the school’s new site had previously been used as a hospital and a university. In total the school site is 40,000 square metres and boasts facilities that include modern learning environments, advanced level science labs, STEM areas, information and communication technology suites, sports gyms, extensive sports pitches, paddle tennis courts, outdoor play equipment, digital media centre (home to CJD student TV) and onsite parking/drop off.

The reputation of the school had developed so significantly that it moved into the new facility with 1,700 pupils on roll and, for the first time, the English curriculum was introduced. The school now has both Portuguese and English curriculum streams offered on the same site. Interest in the school continued to grow and at the start of September last year, it opened the academic year with 2,200 young learners.

The continued growth of the school will see the addition of more purpose-built buildings to expand the international and national provisions into state-of-the-art facilities, alongside the option for pupils to board at the school.

Matthew Tompkins, managing director of Dukes Education Portugal explains the growth of Dukes in the country: “CJD is one of four excellent schools we partner with in Portugal. As our family continues to grow, we will continue to strengthen the links between us and learn from each other. Shifting global trends are reflected in the contemporary education, rooted in strong values, that we provide for our young people. By working as one team, we continue to provide the best preparation for students to be successful throughout their lives.”

The school has gone through a period of rapid and sustained growth and has always managed to maintain a focus on its vision of excellence for its community. The partnership between Carvalho, Chamusca and the Dukes family illustrates how relationships that are built around a shared set of common goals and values can transform a community for good.

David Fitzgerald is chief executive of Dukes Education, Europe

David Fitzgerald