Sílvia and Karen have worked closely together as colleagues and friends since 2004 and now know each other so well they can finish the other´s sentence. Sílvia was born in Rogil, which is just north of Aljezur, and studied at Faro University, gaining a degree in Modern Language and Literature before training to be a teacher. She taught Portuguese at Barlavento International Primary School from 2000 until 2009 and her son attended the school for 5 years.
Karen is from Scotland and has lived in the Algarve for over 20 years. She qualified with a BA Honours degree in Business and Marketing at Glasgow Caledonian University in 1989 and then travelled extensively before settling in Portugal.
They are both passionate teachers and consider themselves incredibly lucky to be the owners and Directors of the two wonderful schools of Barlavento and Aljezur with their amazing family of students, parents, teachers and support staff. Their second passion in life is animal welfare and between them Karen and Sílvia have many rescue animals, including 13 dogs, 24 cats, 2 terrapins, 5 chickens and 2 Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs.
