Staff profile

Fernanda Lourenco is a native Portuguese speaker. She graduated in Early Childhood Education in 1991 at the University of Algarve, and in Educational Psychology in 1999 at the University Lusofona, both universities from Portugal. Fernanda worked in education as a nursery and drama teacher to 3-16 year old children, before moving to work as Educational Psychologist in 2001, on a project coordinated by ‘Caritas Diocesanas’. This involved working with pregnant teenagers from economically disadvantaged backgrounds to improve their education and family life. The project assisted families from Portuguese speaking African countries, and involved local health services, social services and the child protection agency.

In 2003, Fernanda moved to the North East of England, working as a freelance English/Portuguese translator with local companies. In 2011, she started working as a Portuguese teacher at the school of modern languages and cultures, Durham University. Fernanda has also been involved with local schools doing workshops on Portuguese.