Escola Secundária de Silves, previously known as "Escola Industrial de Silves", dates the beginning of its activity from the year 1919. From then on, it has built a deserved reputation in the Algarve, pursuing its educational objectives, educating generations of students, providing them knowledge and skills. These youngsters have received an adequate preparation which allowed them to follow a higher education or successfully integrating the competitive job market.

To meet the complex demands of our contemporary society, the ESS has resorted to the professionalism, generosity and creativity of its management team and responsible staff. The physical infrastructure of our school has been preserved and improved, respecting the beautiful architectural tracing of its set of buildings. New modern spaces have also been created- administrative area, reprography, library, auditorium, laboratories, sports facilities, computer rooms, advanced audio-visual media, internet access and various didactic facilities.

The main objective of our school is to attain increasing quality standards in different levels, focusing on improving the educational success of our students, thus leading to their comprehensive development, providing them with solid scientific knowledge and skills, autonomy and ethical values. Freedom, responsibility and critical democratic spirit will enable them to fulfil an active citizenship.

The high stability of our teaching staff from which 90% hold a university degree and 81% are professionalized ensures conditions which are favourable to pedagogic success.

The ESS is within the public or private education domain, the pioneer in Portugal responsible for the design and development of the first "Manual of Quality" which was accomplished according to the requirements of Norma ISO 9001:2000. It was also innovative the process of implementing the self-evaluation of school so that the educational institution itself could be the object of regular, external, independent auditing, conquering this way and with regularity the corresponding Quality Certificate.

We consider essential to promote discipline, rigour and values in a school open to a society and a world where culture is more and more universal and knowledge is becoming interdisciplinary and transversal.

The "Quality Assurance" that we offer to our clients is a leading line that comes from our "Educational Project" which claims the intention of this school to become a reference in educational issues.

The Boarding Staff relies on auxiliaries, administrative staff, teachers, and the director of quality, to achieve the goals that we have established so that the management of this system of quality can promote the educational success desired, thus corresponding to the expectations of the population about this matter.

The ESS has defined as its quality policy:

- The absolute priority in the pursuit of school and educational success, trying to take the teaching-learning process to levels of Excellency;

- To consolidate a management work that is creative, efficient and involving;

- To guarantee a careful, fruitful and judicious pedagogical management;

- To boost and improve the operation of the structures of educational guidance;

- To ensure a high a professionalism of teaching function;

- To bet on scientific training plans for the teaching staff;

- To bet on training plans for administrative staff and auxiliaries;

- To optimize human and material resources;

- To promote and implement partnerships and cooperation between the educational community and enterprises;

- To promote and reinforce the image of the institution;

- To give suggestions to the management of the school about the process of standardization of procedures and fulfilment of procedures;

- To assess the degree of satisfaction of the users of the educational system.