Living not at home

Can you pat your head and rub your belly at the same time? Can you do the weekly shop whilst helping with maths homework over the phone?  Can you read one language whilst hearing a second language behind it? I recently managed the third of these multi-tasking challenges and the glow of achievement is still with me. I work in a school in Portugal. I joined last year when it added an international wing; international in the sense that lessons are delivered in English, qualifications are certified by an organisation registered in the UK, and most pupils come from beyond Portugal.  The school has been in existence for nearly ninety years so its supporting infrastructure was already well-established before it started offering a curriculum taught in English: policies, term planners,  clothing guidelines,   categories for recording pupil absence and all the other written procedures necessary for effective operation. And, naturally, all of this was in Portuguese. A handful o...