Plus Success teaching methodologies

The Plus Class in Portugal provides additional support to selected groups of students with similar skills. The measure is targeted at specific school years according to the pupils? needs in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd cycles of the basic level and the secondary level. It consists of The Plus Class and the Phoenix Project which are class organization models that intend to support all pupils in their learning.

The Plus Class is a parallel class where all students participate in the form of a small group. It is an empty class at the beginning of the school year. Throughout the school year pupils with similar proficiency levels and/or learning styles attend the Plus Class for periods of six weeks. At the end of the school year all pupils have been part of this special class. The Project Phoenix also comprises the temporary integration of pupils in a special class – “the nest” - that can be aimed at the ones with learning gaps in parts of the curricula or for the ones who have been already successful in their learning to promote higher achievements.

Both organizational models ascertain that pupils keep the same amount of working time in the original class, entering and leaving school at the same time.

The number of pupils within the classes is reduced in both models, the teachers (if possible at the Plus Class model), the subjects and the learning contents of the special classes are the same as the ones of the original classes. The measure can be applied to one subject or more (usually Portuguese and Maths and other subjects with high levels of failure). The work done in both classes is more focused on the needs of the pupils according to their learning styles and levels of proficiency. Moreover, teachers have the chance to develop specific teaching strategies, respecting different learning paces and through individualized attention.

Both pupils and parents are updated about the achievements through the teacher in charge of the class and via Internet.