Creative Clusters Initiative 2023-25
On Thursday 23rd March 2023, the Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD, invited (Press Release) Primary and Post Primary schools to apply for Creative Clusters. Creative Clusters is a pilot initiative of the Department of Education, led by and in partnership with the 21 full-time Education Support Centres Ireland (ESCI) network of Education Support Centres, 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.
If you want to boost creativity and innovation in your school, you should consider applying for the Creative Cluster initiative. This initiative brings together up to five schools in the same geographical area, allowing them to collaborate and share resources to develop their students' creative and critical thinking skills. Schools have the freedom to collaborate to form an all-Primary cluster, an all-Post Primary cluster or a mixture of Primary and Post-Primary schools cluster; this initiative is designed to suit your needs.
The Creative Cluster initiative provides a range of activities and resources, including workshops, training sessions and professional development opportunities for teachers. These activities and resources are designed to foster creativity, innovation and problem-solving skills among students, and to help teachers incorporate creativity into their everyday teaching practices. By participating in the Creative Cluster initiative, your school will become part of a dynamic network of like-minded educators who are passionate about promoting creativity and innovation in education. The initiative provides an opportunity to enhance your students' education and develop their creative potential.
