ALMOST 200 pupils from secondary schools in Belfast and Derry have been celebrating a pioneering arts programme.
The Creative Schools Partnership is designed to drive educational outcomes for young people by bringing more creativity into the classroom.
Funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s National Lottery funds, the Education Authority and Urban Villages Initiative, the scheme was launched as a pilot programme this year.
It works with 10 schools and communities where there has previously been a history of deprivation and community tension. Each school worked with professional artists to develop their own individual projects, including film-making, script writing, music production, ceramics, digital fabrication and animation.
A special event at the Ulster Museum gave all those involved the opportunity to come together to share experiences and sample some of the skills other groups have been learning at arts workshops.
Arts Council chief executive Roisin McDonough said the pilot project had a positive impact on the schools and people involved.
"We believe creativity is essential to optimising success in the classroom. Through an independent review of the programme, principals, teachers, and pupils have told us how this programme has helped students grow in confidence, learn new skills and energise the wider school body," she said.
