Creative Schools is a flagship initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme to enable the creative potential of every child. Creative Schools is led by the Arts Council in partnership with the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
We had a busy year participating in this initiative in 2018/2019. During the year, the whole school had the opportunity to visit an Art Gallery. The junior classes visited the Glucksman and the senior Classes went to The Crawford. Throughout the year there were plenty of Art activities taking place in school including pottery, jewellery making, animation and knitting workshops. The children all participated in the design and painting of a new mural in the old school corridor. The year ended with a celebration. On Wednesday June 12th, We had a great day in the school where samples of the children’s work were displayed. There was also an Art Exhibition. 525 euro was raised from the sale of the children’s pictures. Thank you all for your support. This money will be fed back into funding Creative Activities in the coming years!
We were extremely lucky as the Creative Schools initiative was extended and we were provided with funding for the 2019/2020 school year. It all kicked off with a ‘Creative Schools Week’. All classes participated in ‘Art stations’ in the school hall. The hall was then decorated with the children’s art work, stories and poetry. All classes were given the opportunity to appreciate each others work. The 1st to 4th class attended Cork Pops and we had a visit from a theatre company who performed ‘The Bluebird of Happiness’. It was a great week.
After that, some new students were appointed to the Student Advisory Group and we started planning. The focus was placed on Creativity within the Music Curriculum. We received a visit form Patrick Naughton who completed workshops with the whole school on African Drumming. Next Garry McCarthy from GmcBeats came to complete a series of workshops with the children. They created raps and then recorded them. Finally, the children were eager to update out Musical Instruments so they had a meeting where they selected instruments to purchase. We will be sure to have great fun with them for many years to come.
Great News: The Creative Schools Initiative extended the funding for one more year- 2020/21. Some new members were recruited to the Student Advisory Group and we started planning again. We did quite a few things during the year. We used some of our new equipment to record ‘The Night before Christmas’. The grant funded some training of teachers and the purchase of a music scheme to try out for the year… It’s called ‘Dabbledoo Music’ and it’s so much fun! We also purchased an online pantomime which children enjoyed at school and at home. Our main aim was to create a book full of stories written by the children themselves. The Book is on the way- Watch this Space!!! Also keep an eye on the walls around the school because another mural is being planned as we speak.
Although we will no longer receive funding, we will continue to be a Creative School. The student advisory group is here to stay and are full of excellent ideas to continue to maintain Creativity within our school. Watch this space!!!
On April 1st- Our songs were released! Check them out…
https://soundcloud.com/gmcworkshops/sets/dripsey-ns
