Creative Clusters

Creative Clusters is an initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme to enable the creative potential of every child. It is one of 17 actions outlined in the Creative Ireland - Creative Youth Plan which will be implemented as part of the first steps of a comprehensive arts education plan.

Schools Excellence Fund – Creative Clusters Initiative

Creative Clusters is a national pilot initiative of the Department of Education and Skills, led by and in partnership with the 21 full-time Teacher Education Centres (ATECI) and funded through the Schools Excellence Fund – Creative Clusters Initiative. Creative Clusters is a national programme of local projects and the 21 full-time Education Centres across Ireland are lead partners in the 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.

• The Creative Clusters initiative commenced in the 2018-19 academic year with 23 clusters established, comprising 71 schools countrywide.
• In the academic year 2019-20, 21 Creative Clusters, comprising 77 schools were established.
• In September 2020, a further 72 schools across 21 Clusters joined the initiative.
• For the academic year 2021/2022 a total of 81 schools across 21 Clusters will join the initiative– one from each of the 21 full-time education centres in Ireland.

What is a Creative Cluster and how many schools are involved?
A Creative Cluster will typically consist of between three and five schools collaborating on the design, implementation, evaluation and dissemination of an innovative creative learning project which supports them to address a common issue or challenge. Creative Clusters will include schools at different stages of their journey in using creativity in the classroom. Clusters can consist of primary schools only, post-primary schools only or a combination of primary and post primary schools. In selecting the clusters to participate in the scheme, the initiative will seek to have all three configurations represented in the national pilot. Clusters can be drawn from existing networks or result from the creation of new ones. Each cluster must nominate a lead school. The lead school must identify a Creative Cluster Coordinator who would normally be a member of the school’s senior leadership team. The other schools in each cluster must nominate a representative to participate in the project.

Funded by:
Creative Clusters is a national programme of local projects and the 21 full-time Education Centres across Ireland are lead partners in the initiative. The initiative is funded by the Department of Education and Skills through the Schools Excellence Fund – Creative Clusters Initiative.

For further information go to www.gov.ie/en/publication/f0342-schools-excellence-fund-creative-clusters/.