“Every time I get mad I draw or colour a picture because it makes me express what I feel. It makes me feel more like myself,” Neil, Castlebar, County Mayo
A new RTÉ documentary, Creative Kids, demonstrates the powerful effect that creativity has on our youngest citizens. Over the period of several months cameras charted the introduction of the unique Scoileanna Ildánacha/Creative Schools programme into five different schools around the country. The schools featured include:
- Presentation Convent Primary School, Tralee, Co. Kerry.
- De La Salle Boys Primary School, Castlebar, Co. Mayo.
- Stepaside Educate Together Secondary School, Co. Dublin
- Presentation Primary School Warrenmount, Blackpitts, Dublin 8..
- Scoil Athphoirt, Arranmore Island, Co. Donegal.
The Creative Schools initiative is delivered by the Arts Council in partnership with the Departments of Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht, Education & Skills and Children & Youth Affairs. It supports creativity in Irish schools with training, personnel and financial resources.
It is well accepted that arts and cultural participation leads to a range of positive outcomes for children and young people – from personal wellbeing, emotional and skills development, through to positive attitudes towards school and learning.
We also know that schools play a vital role in providing opportunities for children to participate in arts and culture – so where better to start to start a new creative journey than in the classroom.
And what better way to support such a journey than by helping entire schools to embrace creativity – to place creativity at the centre of school life – in their own way, for their own benefit.
“If a child is happy and engaged and connected at school then their learning experience is going to be richer full stop” Sallie Ennis, Vice-Principal, Stepaside Educate Together, Dublin
This is the thinking behind the Creative Schools initiative – a flagship of the Creative Ireland Programme ‘s Creative Youth Plan.
Since it started in September 2018, Creative Schools has supported 300 schools in their creative journeys. There is still plenty of time for your school to take part. Applications for round three of Creative Schools – which starts in September 2020 – can be submitted to the Arts Council up until 25th June 2020. Visit here for more details.
“Over the past number of years, we have supported hundreds of schools the length and breadth of the country to start a new creative journey, and this documentary brilliantly captures their experiences and documents their successes,” Josepha Madigan TD, Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
“The Creative Schools initiative enables us to deliver more fully on our ambition to support and nurture creativity within our school communities, to support all children and young people in Ireland in access to learning in the creative arts, as part of a full and rounded education. Creative Kids shines a light on the experience of five schools as this ambition becomes reality,” Joe McHugh TD, Minister for Education and Skills.
Creative Kids was commissioned by Creative Ireland and can be seen on Sunday 3rd May 2020 @6.30 on RTÉ One Television and will be available later on RTÉ player
