Municipality will requalify, expand and modernize EB 2, 3 in Castro Marim

Castro Marim City Council intends to move forward with requalification, expansion and modernization works at the EB 2, 3 school in Castro Marim, through an application to the Recovery and Resilience Plan ( PRR ) which amounts to 9 million euros.

The aim is to improve, adapt and provide the space with conditions that are better suited to current and future needs, as the building is over 20 years old and has not undergone any intervention.

It is currently inadequate in terms of equipment, resources and facilities to respond to current and future teaching methodologies, in addition to not having an air conditioning and insulation system in the classrooms.

There is a need to increase the number of classrooms, by expanding a block with two floors and reinforcing the structure on the outside, also adding an elevator and toilet facilities in the west wing.

The classrooms will be considered “of the future”, with a more digital approach to teaching, equipped with equipment that promotes a more innovative teaching-learning process, where the maximum advantage can be taken of the opportunities offered by the digital world, ensuring a more complete training aligned with the demands of the 21st century.

These classrooms of the future are physically transformed into a technological laboratory environment, with innovative learning methods through hardware and software that will be responsible for stimulating students' attention and promoting positive academic performance.

Since the maximum limit and capacity of students per classroom is 30, it is expected that the school will have a total of 25 classrooms, totaling 750 students.

Several spaces at EB 2 and 3 in Castro Marim will be aesthetically reorganized, bringing visual permeability to the locations, with acoustic protection, and a covered path will be built to protect against rain and provide shade from the entrance to the building.

Regarding climate change mitigation and adaptation, it is proposed that the energy performance indicator relating to the building's total primary energy consumption be improved by at least 30 percent, with the use of clean and renewable energy, through the use of more efficient equipment and the application of photovoltaic panels on the roof.

The building will also be covered with a thermal insulation system and all the frames will be replaced with others with more efficient energy performance, while it will also have sanitary equipment that aims to save between 80 and 120 thousand liters per year.

Outside, a seven-a-side football pitch with synthetic grass, a sports pitch with basketball markings, two badminton courts, a vertical garden, the preservation of existing vegetation and the creation of new green areas were proposed.

The creation of this educational garden will allow the interpretation and appreciation of ecosystems by promoting the values ​​of sustainable and organic agriculture, while the vegetation chosen will be native, adapted to the climatic conditions and the problem of water scarcity.

One of the most in-depth interventions at EB 2, 3 in Castro Marim will be the replacement of the roof, as it currently still contains products containing asbestos in its composition.

The Castro Marim School Group also aims to foster an inclusive school that promotes equality and is non-discriminatory, whose diversity, flexibility, innovation and personalization respond to the heterogeneity of students, eliminating obstacles and stereotypes in accessing the curriculum and learning, with a building that will be adapted to the specific needs of the school community with limited mobility.

This intervention is considered “urgent” according to the Sectoral Agreement of Commitment for the Financing of the School Recovery/Rehabilitation Program, signed between the government and the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities in 2022, which placed EB 2, 3 de Castro Marim as a priority.