Seven Waterford schools join national creativity programme

Seven schools and Youthreach centres in Waterford are set to join the Creative Schools programme as recently announced by the Arts Council. 

This brings to 1,100 the number of Irish schools who have participated since the programme began in 2018, meaning one in four Irish schools will have now been part of the initiative.

The aim of the programme is to help fulfil the Arts Council’s vision for all children to have the opportunity to participate fully in a range of art forms within the education system. The Arts Council works to ensure that all children can fully enjoy their right to arts and culture.

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 seven Waterford schools/Youthreach centres 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. 

The newly listed Waterford Schools/Youthreach centres include: Dungarvan Youthreach, Scoil Na mBráithre Dungarvan, Scoil Lorcain Boys National School, SN Bhaile Mhic Airt, Holy Family Junior School, Glenbeg N.S and St Mary's Touraneena NS.

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.

Waterford Senator and General Election candidate, John Cummins welcomed the announcement: “This is a fantastic opportunity for the youth in Waterford communities to explore the Arts and I’m excited to see how these creative and captivating projects will develop over the coming two years."

Also commenting on the inclusion of the Waterford schools, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin TD said: “With this additional set of schools, it now means that, since inception in 2018, one in four 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," she said. 

The Director of the Arts Council, Maureen Kennelly, also holds the programme in high regard: “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 per cent 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," she said.