Creative Connections
Creative Connections is an exciting new Pilot Programme offering children, young people and teachers in schools a unique opportunity to collaborate with professional creative practitioners, bringing creativity and the arts directly into their learning. This provides creative learning opportunities that may not otherwise be available, enabling children and young people to integrate creativity into their everyday lives. Grounded in, and supported by, the curriculum, this pilot aims to enrich wellbeing, personal development and learning of children, young people and their wider communities.
Creative Connections champions young people’s right to a voice in decision-making. Throughout the initiative, they will work in partnership with teachers and creative practitioners to lead and shape their learning experiences.
The programme is funded through the Shared Island initiative and is supported by the Department of Education in Northern Ireland and the Department of Education and Youth in Ireland. It is managed by the National Arts in Education initiative through Tralee Education Support Centre, County Kerry.
The evolving aims of Creative Connections are to:
- Enhance learning, teaching and assessment through creative partnerships and processes.
- Support school development priorities and build practitioner confidence through creative pedagogies and professional learning.
- Empower young people’s agency.
- Connect communities through creativity.
- Promote emotional health and wellbeing to support readiness to learn.
Creative Connections was officially launched on 7th February 2025 by the Education Minister, Paul Givan MLA, alongside the Irish Government’s Minister for Education and Youth, Helen McEntee TD. The Press Release can be read on the Department of Education website.
Phase 1: April – June 2025
Phase 1 of Creative Connections is now complete. Shared cross-border professional learning events (PLEs) for teachers and creative practitioners took place in April 2025. Between April and June 2025, a 20 hour in-school creative residency (6 hours of shared planning and 14 hours in-school residency) took place in 20 schools in Northern Ireland and 20 schools in Ireland (Counties Louth, Leitrim, Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan). Each school was partnered with a professional creative practitioner, with 20 practitioners from Northern Ireland and 20 creative practitioners from Ireland participating in the programme.
Phase 1 was met with widespread enthusiasm from schools, teachers, creative partners, and - most importantly - young people. The residencies were built on a shared partnership model, with young people, educators, and creative practitioners working together to enhance learning through creativity and the arts.
Projects were rich and diverse, reflecting the unique voices of each school community - from Passion for Play at Moat Primary School in Lisnaskea, to Udderly Farmtastic at Ballysally Primary School, to Exploration through Mixed Media Collage at Castleblaney College in Monaghan.
Young people played a central role in shaping, implementing, and evaluating their Creative Connections projects. Their reflections capture the impact of the programme:
“I can’t believe I’m actually working on a large sculpture – I thought you had to be famous or go to university to do this!”
– Student, St. Mary’s High School, Newry
“I am going to be an artist when I grow up.”
– Student, Limavady Central Primary School
“It gets you into a different personality”
– Student, Scoil Naomh Lorcan, Omeath
These voices highlight the transformative power of creativity in education and the importance of giving young people the space and support to express themselves, take creative risks, and imagine new possibilities.
Phase 2: September 2025 to June 2026
Phase 2 begins in September 2025 with further cross-border professional learning events scheduled for 22 and 23 September 2025.
This phase includes two key components:
- An additional in-school residency with a creative practitioner, involving cross-border exchanges where practitioners are placed in schools outside their own jurisdiction between October 2025 and June 2026.
- The formation of ten Creative Connections Clusters, each comprising four schools – two from Northern Ireland and two from Ireland – collaborating under a shared theme to promote and embed creativity within their schools.
Each school will receive funding of €1,500/£1,245 for the 2025/26 academic year to support their Cluster activities. A trained Facilitator will be assigned to each Cluster to guide and support collaboration.
Further updates will be shared as Phase 2 progresses.