Escola Secundária de Rocha Peixoto has about 1800 students, 12 – 18 years old, as school population. Its offer includes the 7th, 8th and 9th grade of secondary education with about 306 students, high school courses (Sciences and Technologies, Socioeconomic Sciences, Languages and Literature and Arts) with about 870, students, vocational courses in eleven different areas with about 446 students and adults’ education by night with about 175 students. There’s also a Centre for Qualification and Professional Education running, an autonomous organism, adding to the recognition, validation and certification of adults informal lifelong learning skills the vocational guidance of students in professional courses. There’s still a lifelong training centre for teachers and staff.

The school’s influence area is large as we have students from the municipality and from all the municipalities around our town, too (Vila do Conde, Esposende, Barcelos, VilaNova de Famalicão, Maia and Trofa).

Besides the classes held at school there’s a wide range of complementary activities (a study supported room, exams support, tutorials, conflict management, school library activities, study visits, …)  and an interesting range of extracurricular activities (drama club, school choir, dance groups, radio, journalism, School Sports with eleven different sports, town hall activities, …) performed most of the time in partnerships with the parents’ council, the local authorities, lots of companies and institutions and the local community in general.

Escola Secundária de Rocha Peixoto has an inclusive policy, incorporating students with special needs in regular classes. Nevertheless, as a school in the outskirts of a big city, Oporto, it already experiences some problems related to social exclusion. Another aspect is the growing number of students from other countries who need help to have a better integration.