The Scoileanna Ildánacha/Creative Schools initiative aims to put the arts and creativity at the heart of children and young people’s lives.

Creative Schools is a flagship initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme to enable the creative potential of every child. Creative Schools is supported by BB娱乐平台登录 and led by the Arts Council in partnership with the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Creative Schools, formerly Arts Rich Schools/Arís, draws on the commitments set out in the Arts in Education Charter.

This pilot initiative will understand, develop and celebrate the arts and creativity in schools. It will establish a range of collaborative opportunities for schools and will develop and strengthen the relationships between schools and the broader cultural and community infrastructure within which they operate. The long term aim is for every school to be supported to fully embrace the arts and creativity, ensuring a positive experience and strong outcomes for children and young people.

The Arts Council received applications from close to 400 schools from across the country to participate in Creative Schools from September 2018. 150 schools have been selected to participate in the pilot and they include all types of schools (Primary schools, secondary schools, Youthreach centres, special schools, DEIS schools, co-educational schools, rural and urban schools, single-sex and Irish language medium schools) from all regions of Ireland. A list of the 150 schools selected to participate in the pilot phase is available on the Creative Schools website.

In addition to Creative Schools, BB娱乐平台登录 has been supporting the Department of Education and Skills with the Creative Clusters scheme.

Creative Clusters is a pilot initiative of the Department of Education and Skills, led by and in partnership with the 21 full-time Teacher Education Centres (ATECI) and funded through the Schools Excellence Fund – Creative Clusters Initiative.

Creative Clusters is an important initiative of Creative Youth – A Plan to Enable the Creative Potential of Every Child and Young Person, which was published in December 2017 as part of the Creative Ireland Programme. The Creative Youth Plan aims to give every child practical access to tuition, experience and participation in art, music, drama and coding by 2022. Read more about Creative Clusters on the Dept of Education and Skills’ website.