More Southside schools to get ‘Creative’ in September

MORE children across the Southside will be taking part in a pilot Creative Schools scheme this year.

Part of the Government’s Creative Ireland Programme, the project aims to put arts and creativity at the heart of children and young people’s lives.

The programme is led by the Arts Council in collaboration with the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Department of Education and Skills.

Local Fine Gael TD and Minister of State, Catherine Byrne, said she was delighted that three schools in Dublin South Central were included in the 150 selected nationally to take part in the Creative Schools pilot programme in September.

They are Griffith Barracks Multi-Denominational Primary School, Clogher Road, Mary Queen Of Angels 2 Boys National School, Ballyfermot, and Presentation Primary School, Warrenmount, Dublin 8.

“Art and music are a part of who we are as a nation, and can greatly enrich our lives,” Deputy Byrne said. “Through the programme, the Arts Council is engaging with children and young people enabling their creativity and linking them in with the arts and creative infrastructure in their locality and nationally.

“This pilot initiative will develop and celebrate the arts and creativity in our 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 here in Dublin South Central and further afield.

“I have no doubt the scheme will prove a great success.”

At the launch in June, the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan, revealed that local children from Stepaside and Rathfarnham had also been chosen to participate in the pilot scheme.

“This will give them increased access to creative activities in schools,” the minister said. “Funded by my department, it puts culture and creativity at the centre of public policy.”