The Arts Council announced today that offers have been made to 186 schools and centres across Ireland who applied to be part of the Creative Schools initiative.
The very high level of applications to be part of this 2-year process reflects the importance that schools and youth reach centres put on creativity and their ambition to celebrate and put creative thinking at the very heart of what they do.
Among those invited are 6 schools in Clare – SN Eoin Baiste (Ballyvaughan NS), Connolly NS, Ennis Community College, Scariff Community College, Scoil na Mainistreach Quin Dangan and Eidhneach NS.
Participation empowers children and young people to develop, implement and evaluate arts and creative activity throughout their schools/centres and stimulate additional ways of working which reinforce the impact of creativity on children and young people’s learning, development and well-being.
Now they can become part of the Creative Schools Initiative which is designed to provide opportunities for children and young people to build their artistic and creative skills, each school taking part receives a grant and works with a professional Creative Associate who supports them to develop and implement their own bespoke Creative School Plan.
Speaking at the announcement Director of the Arts Council Maureen Kennelly said: “We warmly welcome our new cohort of 186 schools to Creative Schools. We are delighted that demand for the programme is so strong across the country and we are thrilled to say that by this stage of the programme, 20% of schools in Ireland have connected with us. Working with our partners in the Department of Education, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and Creative Ireland, we are looking forward to another school year full of creativity, consultation and exploration”.
Minister for Education Norma Foley TD said: “I am delighted to welcome the 186 schools that are coming together to join the Creative Schools initiative 2022. I would like to welcome these new schools into this exciting initiative, and I look forward to seeing how these creative, colourful and captivating projects develop over the coming two years. Through Creative Schools the Department of Education supports critical thinking, cognitive and emotional wellbeing, encouraging a creative environment, without boundaries within the educational space.”
Creative Schools received applications from counties throughout the country to be part of the initiative and they were assessed on how Creative Schools would benefit learning and development in the school and how children and young people would play a central role in leading the process.
Schools who have been taking part to date have explored creativity in all its forms and embraced how it can be celebrated in so many ways. From baking to creating and designing gardens, from photography to performance, from working with other community groups to transforming areas of their own schools, the impact of Creative Schools can be seen around the country.