Program

The Associação Pró-Infância Santo António de Lisboa (APISAL) is a non-profit Private Institution of Social Solidarity offering a comprehensive range of social and educational services, spanning Nursery, Pre-school Education, Primary Education (1st Cycle), and an After-School Activity Centre.

Operating on a full-time basis, APISAL provides both an educational programme and family support services, currently serving around 267 children and their families. Situated in Arroios, in the heart of Lisbon – one of the most multicultural neighbourhoods in the country – the institution embodies this diversity with pride, welcoming children from 31 different nationalities. This rich cultural mix is not merely reflected in its community; it is actively embraced as a defining and enriching dimension of APISAL's identity and pedagogical practice.

The institution's team comprises 56 professionals, including both teaching and non-teaching staff, as well as specialists such as a psychologist and a social worker. Together, they work within a multidisciplinary framework that fosters the integration of services and a holistic understanding of each child across all aspects of their development. The Board of APISAL operates on a entirely voluntary basis, a testament to the institution's deep social and community commitment.

At APISAL, diverse identities are genuinely welcomed and respected, with diversity viewed not as a challenge but as an opportunity and a source of learning. Guided by this ethos, the institution has adopted the Pedagogy-in-Participation as its core educational approach – one that recognises the child as an active, competent, and engaged participant in their own learning journey, rooted in the principles of involvement, attentive listening, and profound respect for the child.

The Olivais Sul Children’s Centre (CIOS) provides Nursery and Preschool education through a socio-constructivist and participatory approach—Pedagogy-in-Participation—where children are recognised as competent, active participants in their own learning. Grounded in democratic values, our practice builds on children’s experiences, interests, and knowledge, fostering exploration, interaction, and shared meaning-making.

We are committed to the co-construction of an innovative and sustainable educational environment, shaped by the active involvement of children, families, professionals, and the community. Children and adults learn together as co-constructors, promoting well-being, participation, and holistic development, while valuing individual, social, and cultural diversity.

Established in 1976, CIOS has operated as an institution organically and functionally integrated within the Social Security Institute (ISS.IP) – Lisbon District Centre. Its management was ensured by Social Security until 2009, after which responsibility was transferred to the Aga Khan Foundation Portugal.

As of 1 September 2024, and at the invitation of the ISS.IP, the management of CIOS is entrusted to the “O Século” Foundation.

Bom Sucesso Foundation was created in 1951 by a family initiative, at a time that, in Portugal, the poorest families have no access to any kind of healthcare, so Mrs. Maud Queiroz Pereira had the idea to create a local maternal and child healthcare service.

The building where the actual Child Health Center is, since 1975, was designed with the support of Mr Rafael Álvarez Alva, a World Health Organization consultant, who has collaborated also in the planning of the activities.

The main core of the Child Health Center’s activity is prevention: Primary prevention, through health education and health promotion activities; Secondary prevention, through a health monitoring model based on periodic health appointments and screenings and Tertiary prevention, through timely treatment of abnormalities or diseases detected. We provide high-quality healthcare, organized in 15 areas, implemented by nurses, specialist doctors and therapists.

Each contact of a family/caregiver with one of our health professionals (especially nurses) is an opportunity for health education and health promotion, by sharing information that eventually leads to healthier behaviors and lifestyles.

Foundation’s integrated health services are mainly focused on child health. Traditionally targeting families, the services are being adjusted (since 2014) to answer also to the healthcare needs of children in foster homes. We currently support 20 foster homes.

Investing in the first years of life is the best way to build a healthier and sustainable society. Considering and acting upon the health determinants of each beneficiary through health education and empowerment that leads to the adoption of healthier lifestyles; regular screenings to detect abnormalities; timely treatment of the abnormalities detected; we promote healthy child development. This model leads to better child and adolescent health that promotes higher well-being, higher educational success and better social inclusion. 

Today, we continue our mission to improve the health of those who need it most!