Scoileanna Ildánacha/Creative Schools aims to put the arts and creativity at the heart of children and young people’s lives.  It will support schools to develop and begin to implement their own Creative School Plan. Participating schools will work with a Creative Associate (CA) to understand, develop and celebrate their engagement with the arts, empowering them to bring about real change in the way they work. They will draw on the range of resources within their school and wider community, developing new ways of working that reinforce the impact of creativity on student learning, development and well-being. Using the Lundy Model as best practice, schools will ensure that children and young people will have a central role in this process.

This year 150 new schools from across Ireland will join the existing 150 Creative Schools already in the programme. The Arts Council will soon be advertising new opportunities for CAs to support Creative Schools and more information on these opportunities will soon be posted here.  If you would like to be informed when this information is available please email us at creativeschools@artscouncil.ie with the subject ‘add to CA opportunities mailing list 2019’ in your email.

CAs are artists or creative practitioners and/or educators with a deep understanding of creativity and its potential to transform the lives of children and young people.  They will match the needs of schools to arts and creative opportunities in their locality. They will identify potential areas for improvement and will inspire, energise and drive schools forward in addressing these.  

CAs have their own arts or creative practice and come from a range of creative professions such as artists, designers and craftspeople or those working in mediums used for the purpose of creative or interpretative expression. Whether from the arts, culture, heritage, creative industries, science, or other sectors, they challenge, support and sustain new practice in the field of the arts, culture and creative learning. A video about the work of Creative Associates can be found here here.