The Arts Council announced recently that 184 new schools and Youthreach centres across Ireland will join its Creative Schools programme including St. Bernadette’s National School, Clondalkin. This brings to 1,100 the number of Irish schools who have participated since the programme began in 2018. One in four Irish schools will have now been part of the Creative Schools programme. This is a critical development for the arts and young people in Ireland and helps to fulfil the Arts Council’s aim for all children to have the opportunity to participate fully in a range of art forms within our education system. The Arts Council works to ensure that all children can fully enjoy their right to arts and culture.
There were 300 applications to the programmme this year, a significant increase on 2023 numbers. This year’s Creative Schools intake includes 53 DEIS schools and 23 Irish language schools as well as seven youthreach centres and eight special schools. The 184 schools chosen will each receive a €4,000 grant and will work with a professional Creative Associate for two years who will support them to develop and implement their own bespoke Creative School Plan.
Participating in the Creative School programme empowers children and young people to develop, implement and evaluate arts and creative activity throughout their schools and Youthreach centres. The initiative also enables schools to discover additional ways of working and uncover the impact of creativity on children and young people’s learning, development and well-being.
Schools who take part explore creativity in all its forms and embrace 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 is already felt in every county.
Minister for Education Norma Foley TD said “It is wonderful to welcome the 186 schools to the Creative Schools initiative 2024. I would like to personally welcome these new schools into this unique programme. I’m very excited to see how these creative and captivating projects will develop over the coming two years.”
Also speaking, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin TD said “I would like to congratulate the 186 schools and Youthreach centres that have successfully applied to become a Creative School. This new cohort of schools and school communities have the opportunity to embark on a unique two-year journey of creativity and discovery. With this additional set of schools, it now means that, since inception in 2018, 1 in 4 schools in Ireland will have experienced Creative Schools. Again, this year sees a continuous increase in the diversity of settings in receipt of support. This is a testament to its impact and the strength of the partnership between the Art Council, the Department of Education and the all-of-government Creative Ireland Programme.”
Speaking about the announcement Director of the Arts Council Maureen Kennelly said “We warmly welcome our new cohort of 186 schools to Creative Schools. Following the wonderful success of Creative February for schools this year, we are heartened to see a clear increase in applications for this incredible resource. By this stage of the programme, we’re delighted to say that 25% of all schools in Ireland have connected with us. We know that arts experiences with, for and by children can be transformative. Working with our partners in the Department of Education, and in the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and in Creative Ireland, we are looking forward to another school year full of exploration, creative thinking, discovery and most importantly fun”.
Pictured: Students from St. Bernadette’s National School, Clondalkin. Photo Credit: Brian Cregan
