What to do about bullying, missing teachers or changing schools
A guide for parents of children at a state or private school in Portugal. It will help you record the problem, get the school to respond in writing, bring in outside bodies if needed and request a school transfer properly. This is the general procedure, not legal advice.
First, check whether there is any immediate danger
Talk calmly with your child and find out exactly what is happening: a one-off conflict, repeated bullying, threats, extortion, sexual behaviour, beatings, cyberbullying or pressure from a teacher. Don’t blame your child and don’t demand that they immediately ‘hit back’ on their own.
If there is a threat to life, a weapon, serious violence or a risk of self-harm, call 112. If there is no urgent danger but your child has suddenly got worse, see your family doctor or a psychologist, or go to the urgência pediátrica (children’s A&E). Don’t keep your child at home for long without telling the school: education is compulsory in Portugal and absences are monitored.
“They adapt with more difficulty than little kids. The main thing is to talk, talk to them, not pressure them, not demand top results at school straight away. Our son protested against going to school, because it’s really hard — a new country, a language you don’t know. In the end we got through it, we talked a lot, explained why we’d moved. The main thing is not to pressure but to support. He picked up the language more or less in about 1.5 years, and once he had friends at school it got much easier. Now it’s been almost 3 years since the move, he’s settled in. And the teenage rebellion has started to calm down too. At school the teachers helped, supported him, gave him materials in Engli”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal02.09.2025
“hope so too. at prime school in cascais there was nothing like this. but for now she has to have treatment with a psychologist, because when we tried to send her back there she self-harmed (putting it delicately for the chat) and the school, when we try to end the contract, is demanding payment for 4 months. even though i have papers from the ambulance crew and psychiatrists that the cause is bullying. decided not to give up and to fight.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkchatsetubal19.12.2025
Gather the facts and keep the evidence
Write down dates, places, the names of those involved and of witnesses, the exact words used and the effect on your child. Keep messages, links, screenshots, photos of injuries, medical documents and your correspondence with the school. With cyberbullying, don’t stop at a screenshot: save the page address, the account name and the date it was posted.
If the incident happened at school, ask in writing for the CCTV footage to be kept and for an ocorrência (incident report) to be filed. If your child was injured, ask whether a form was filled in for Seguro Escolar (school insurance). The sooner you do this, the less risk there is that the records disappear.
“Experience of two private ones Teachers do sometimes yell Some are jumpy, the moment you sneeze they kick you out of the class The bullying they stubbornly refused to notice, and they didn’t believe me. Until a teacher saw with his own eyes a kid slam the door on my child’s foot.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal17.10.2025
Write to the teacher and the school management
In 1.º ciclo (years 1–4), write to the Professor Titular de Turma (the main class teacher); in later years, to the Diretor de Turma (form tutor). Copy in the Direção (school management) or the Diretor do Agrupamento de Escolas (head of the school cluster) straight away. If the problem involves a teacher, go directly to the management.
Set out the facts without insults, and use the words bullying or cyberbullying explicitly if this is repeated, targeted bullying. Ask them to confirm they have received your letter, to look into it, to keep your child safe, to name a person in charge and to tell you when they will next be in touch. The school may not tell you how the other pupil was punished, because of data protection, but it must explain what it has done to keep your child safe.
“What helped me a couple of times was writing a complaint to the head with a copy to the teacher, really very official, with references to local and European laws and the ominous word ‘bullying’ — they react faster to that and it works.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal16.10.2025
“for us the only thing that works is mentioning bullying. Everyone gets moving at once and urgently takes action. They’re afraid of those accusations and they get it)”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal19.06.2024
Ask for the school’s psychological and educational support
Ask for a meeting with the Serviço de Psicologia e Orientação, SPO (the school’s psychology and careers guidance service) and, if needed, with the Equipa Multidisciplinar de Apoio à Educação Inclusiva, EMAEI (inclusive education support team). Possible measures include an individual assessment, observation of the class, group sessions and a support plan.
Don’t automatically agree to a joint meeting between the victim and the bully if your child is scared or there is a risk of pressure. Get a specific plan agreed: who supervises break times, where your child can go for help, how the school will keep those involved apart and when it will review the results.
“Yep — at our request the school did a psychological assessment of the kids, which we’ll probably take to a specialist. They also have group sessions with a psychologist, where they sorted out the bullying problem in the class (there was one guy who then apologised in front of the whole class (no, not on camera)) Now they’ve launched some big experimental psychology project, NoStress. Also in groups.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal18.04.2024
If teachers are missing, ask the school for a written plan
Find out which subjects are actually not being taught, how many lessons have been missed and whether the situation is temporary. Write to the Direção (school management) and ask whether they are recruiting a teacher and how substituições (cover lessons) and recuperação das aprendizagens (catching up on missed material) are organised.
If there is no answer or lessons are regularly not taking place, send a written complaint to the head of the Agrupamento de Escolas (school cluster). Keep timetables and a list of lessons that didn’t happen: a general statement that ‘there aren’t enough teachers’ is not enough for an outside complaint.
“Not thrilled.There aren’t enough teachers, constant strikes, and there’s also bullying not from kids but from teachers They always stick up for their own.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkPortugal 🇵🇹 TravelAsk Chat09.12.2024
If the school does nothing, go higher
On how the school is run and whether rules are being followed, you can file an exposição or queixa (a submission or complaint) with IGEC — Inspeção-Geral da Educação e Ciência (the education inspectorate). For enrolment, transfers and finding a place, you can also contact DGEstE — Direção-Geral dos Estabelecimentos Escolares (the directorate for schools) through the relevant regional office.
Threats, extortion, assault, stalking and sharing intimate material are grounds for going to the PSP or GNR, including through the Escola Segura (Safe School) programme. If there is immediate danger, call 112. If your child is in an ongoing dangerous situation, you can contact the CPCJ — Comissão de Proteção de Crianças e Jovens (child and youth protection commission). Attach a timeline, the evidence and your earlier letters to the school to any complaint.
“It’s important to tell apart the kind of shoves and kicks that everyone gets in the general crowd, and bullying. When the victim is one particular child In both cases you need to talk to the teacher But in the second case they may not get to the bottom of it A Portuguese woman I know has just moved her son from a state school to a private one because for the third year running a group of classmates humiliated and beat him. Over that time they talked to the parents, the teachers, the agrupamento, the psychologist.”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal16.10.2025
“What a nightmare! We went through something similar. Our daughter refused to go to year one. Tears, tantrums. We missed half a year. Moved to another school — everything’s fine. But the old school reported us to the right people and we were called in for an interview. It drives me mad that they blame the family straight away, look for the cause there. That another child goes to the same school with no problems — nobody cares. Luckily, at the new school everything went well. They closed the case. We still don’t understand the reason — but we’re sure it’s not us. Most likely a conflict with the teacher or bullying. But our daughter is silent as a spy. It’s very hard. Pass on my wor”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkRussosEmPortugal26.11.2024
Check for places before applying to transfer
First contact the office of the school you want and the Agrupamento de Escolas (school cluster) to find out whether there are places and how transfers work during the school year. A verbal confirmation does not guarantee a place: the final decision depends on free places and the priorities set by law.
To transfer for the next school year, you usually apply through the Portal das Matrículas (school enrolment portal) within the deadlines published each year by the Ministério da Educação, Ciência e Inovação (Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation). When asking to change school, you can list several preferences. If it matters to keep your current option, ask your current school and DGEstE whether you should put it last on the list: a place at the specific school you want is not guaranteed.
“When we wanted to change school in January, I went to the office of the school we wanted and asked if there were places. There weren’t((( But they told me transfers mostly happen in December, at the end of the 1st term before the holidays, and that’s usually when places come up. Good luck!”
Translated from Russian; the original is at the linkschoolinportugal26.10.2025
Sort out leaving and help your child settle in
Once the new place is confirmed, check with both schools the date of the move and the transfer of the processo individual do aluno (pupil’s record), textbooks and assessment results. At a private school, check the contract separately: the notice period, payment for the remaining months and the grounds for early termination. Medical reports on their own do not always automatically cancel payments under the contract.
After the move, stay in touch with the new Diretor de Turma (form tutor) and don’t demand top results straight away. Adjusting to the language and a new class can take months; in one of the cases described, everyday and school language became noticeably easier after about a year and a half.
What it costs, according to community conversations
| private school, one child | Figures mentioned in different cases ranged from €600–700 to over €1,700 a month; the actual price depends on the school and the services included. | source |
| leaving a private school early | In one case the school demanded payment for another 4 months, despite documents from the ambulance service and psychiatrists; this was a demand under that particular contract, not a general state fee. | source |
What to bring
- ID for the child and for the parent or legal guardian
- Chave Móvel Digital (digital key) or your Portal das Matrículas login details
- Comprovativo de morada (proof of address), if the school asks for it
- A timeline of incidents with dates, places and those involved
- Screenshots, links, photos and saved correspondence
- Medical or psychological reports, if you have them
- Copies of your letters to the school and confirmation that they were received
- The timetable and a list of lessons missed because there was no teacher
- The contract and its termination rules, if the school is private
- Confirmation of a place at the new school before finally leaving the old one
Where people most often trip up
- Sticking to conversations in person, after which you can’t prove when the school was told
- Calling any conflict bullying without describing how often it happens, what exactly was done and the effect
- Expecting to be told how the other child was punished, when the school may refuse to tell you in order to protect their data
- Meeting the bully’s parents directly and so making the conflict worse
- Not saving videos and posts straight away, only to find later that they have been deleted
- Keeping the child at home for long periods without agreeing the absences with the school and a doctor
- Not keeping a list of missed lessons when teachers are missing, and getting a formulaic reply
- Applying for a transfer without checking whether there are places and what happens to the current school place
- Ending a private school contract without checking the notice period and remaining payments
- Expecting a change of school by itself to automatically fix the psychological effects
How it went for people
The school stepped in only once there were witnesses
At a private school, a year 5 boy was pushed around and bullied by a classmate, but at first the teacher called it ordinary boys’ play. After a bruise, his mother said she would keep her son at home and start looking for another school; the next day the boys were simply told to be friends. Then the bully slammed a door while the child’s foot was in the doorway, and he fell in front of the teacher, and the class confirmed what had happened. Once there were witnesses, the school called in the bully’s parents and sent him to a psychologist, after which the incidents died down.
The teacher made the bullying worse, so they changed school
The daughter had to be moved to another school from the start of the school year because of bullying and the way her form tutor reacted. After a complaint, in every lesson he publicly asked the girl to make herself feel she belonged in the class, which made her classmates laugh and bully her even more. The main reason for the bullying was her excellent marks: she was accused of only knowing everything because she copied from her phone. In the end the family solved the problem by changing school.
A letter to the teacher quickly stopped the bullying
In November 2025 a seven-year-old girl was enrolled at a Portuguese state school in 1 day, even though she knew no Portuguese at all. One boy distracted her in lessons, nudged her elbow and teased her at break. Her mother wrote to the teacher, the teacher had a stern word with the boy, and after that the problem stopped. The girl has excellent marks and has no conflicts or bullying with the other children.
The one who hits back is the one who gets blamed
The daughter was bullied at primary school: there is a group of boys in the class who constantly pick on others, and before her another child was the victim, and that family left the school. Conflicts are dealt with in such a way that the one blamed is whoever reacted sharply or hit back — the staff on playground duty usually don’t see how the fight started. The parents went to meetings with the teachers and the management, the girl was given a psychologist, and she wrote statements explaining what happened. They achieved little: the school accepted that whoever shouts loudest isn’t always right, asks the daughter to tell adults about every incident and increased the number of staff on playground duty — but because she tells, the other children may see her as a snitch.
What helped was not a complaint to the school but a talk with the bullies’ parents
A Portuguese father said his two teenage daughters had been bullied constantly from year five: classmates filmed humiliating situations and posted them on social media. He spoke to the teacher, the head, wrote to the agrupamento (school cluster) — none of it helped. What did help was something else: he met the parents of the girl doing the bullying outside the school and talked to them directly. In his experience, schools talk a lot about fighting bullying, but in practice Portuguese parents sort these things out between themselves.
Retold in our own words from messages in open chats. The link leads to the full original message.