We have been part of the Creative Schools initiative since it began in September 2018. The Creative Schools initiative aims to put the arts and creativity at the heart of children and young people’s lives, something which we value highly here at Stepaside ETSS.
Creativity and the arts are central to our school and permeate all aspects of our Learning & Teaching. Our Creative Schools programme has seen us embed creativity further into our school practices through many creative workshops and events, from African drumming to creative writing, to creating headpieces from non-recyclable materials, to a student-led post-apocalyptic themed drama production, singing, dancing and all sorts in between!
Our school has benefitted hugely from being part of the Creative Schools programme. It gave students a strong voice that allowed them to access creativity in their own terms outside of the parameters of the regular curricular learning and teaching. It also gave the teachers and staff access to artists in the community to work with on projects and initiatives that enhanced student learning and the teaching across the whole school. In celebration of our Creative School's programme last year, some of you will know we ended the school year with our fabulous TfaSTival, celebrating a year of the arts, creativity and digital partnership in Stepaside ETSS through our TfaST and Creative Schools programme. The whole experience has left a strong creative legacy which we have grown from and we are excited to see what continues to unfold into the future in terms of creativity.
We are delighted to be have been part of the Creative Kids documentary inspired by the roll-out of Creative Schools, a pilot project focussing on creativity and the arts in primary and secondary schools all around Ireland that will air on RTE1 TV on Sunday, May 3rd 2020 at 18.30. Please tune-in or watch on catch up at
https://www.rte.ie/player/