!!!! Opportunity for Teachers: Oide Creativity 2025 Workshops

Oide Creativity
Various Dates: February – April 2025

Creative Ireland Programme and Oide are delighted to present a series of professional development workshops for teachers to support engagement with the arts and learning.

Workshops include:

STE(A)M Workshop – Sustainable Design and Creativity with The Rediscovery Centre
Dates & times: 11th March, 7pm – 8.15pm
Location: Online via Zoom

Wool and Wonder with artist Gabi McGrath
Dates & times: 8th March, 10.15am – 3.45pm
Location: Portlaoise, Co Laois

Sketch It with artist Jim O’Farrell
Dates & locations:
1 March, 10am – 3.30pm | Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin
22 March, 10am – 3.30pm | Castlebar, Co Mayo
5 April, 10am – 3,30pm | Enniscorthy, Co Wexford

Get your World Turning with woodturner Willie Creighton
Dates & locations:
28 February & 1 March | Roscrea, Co Tipperary
7 & 8 March | Sligo
28 & 29 March | Blarney, Co Cork
4 & 5 April | Naas, Co Kildare

Poetry Perspectives with Poetry Ireland and writers Pat Boran and Kevin McDermott
Dates & times:
11, 25 February & 4, 11 March, 7.30pm – 8.45pm
18, 25 March & 1, 8 April, 7.30pm – 8.45pm
Location: Online via Zoom

Crafting Connections with poet and writer Colm Keegan
Dates & times:
5 April, 10.30am – 4pm
Location: Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI), Dublin

Shaping Ideas in Clay with artist Susan Herlihy
Dates: times:
22 & 29 March, 10am – 3.30pm
Location: Portlaoise, Co Laois

See creativity.oide.ie/ for full list of available workshops and information on how to register.

!!!! CPD for Teachers at The Ark: Music to My Ears

The Ark, Dublin
Date: 1 March 2025

Join musician Dafe Orugbo for a practical CPD workshop for teachers at the Ark, Dublin where you’ll explore how music can strengthen cultural bonds and help students feel more in control of their learning.

In this hands-on session, teachers and educators will pick up a variety of practical skills to connect with their students through the creation and listening of new music. By using music as a tool for class participation, you’ll learn how to tap into the cultural touchstones that matter most to your students, helping them feel seen and heard. Plus, it gives students the chance to take the lead in the classroom, which can be empowering—especially when they might otherwise feel out of their comfort zone. This approach lets kids engage in an experience that resonates with their interests, while giving teachers a chance to connect with their students in a shared way.

It’s an opportunity to rethink how we use music as a tool for creativity, connection, and agency in the classroom. Suitable for all levels of experience.

In this CPD workshop for teachers, you will;

• Learn how to write and teach songwriting to your students
• Explore new and exciting creative exercises that you can bring back to the classroom
• Develop new forms of analysis and conversational skills surrounding music
• Build stronger cultural bonds with your students

Dates & Times: 
1 March, 10.30am – 12.30pm

Tickets: 
€25 / €20(for ArkEd Members)

For more information, see ark.ie/events/view/teachers-music-to-my-ears

!!!! Opportunity: Teacher Artist Partnership+ Summer Course and Residency Programme 2024

Department for Education – TAP+

Minister for Education Norma Foley TD has announced the opening of registration for the 2024 Teacher Artist Partnership+ summer courses for primary and special school teachers, artists and creative practitioners.

These professional development summer courses for teachers and creative practitioners are aimed at enhancing arts and creativity in education in primary and special schools. The Teacher Artist Partnership+ Summer Courses will be provided free of charge in each of the 21 full-time Education Centres in Ireland this summer. Each course will have 20 primary teachers and 4 professional artists participating.

Minister Foley said: “I hope that this exciting initiative will help teachers and schools to further enhance creativity in their classrooms. It is important that our children are allowed to express themselves and learn to adapt and collaborate.”

The Creative Youth Programme aims to develop the creative potential of every child. Professional development for both teachers and creative practitioners working in schools is critical to the long-term success and sustainability of creativity in education.

To achieve the long-term objectives of cultural and creative education, it is necessary to build a critical mass of education and creative practitioner professionals who are versed in the theoretical frameworks of arts and creativity education and equipped with the skills and techniques for delivering programmes in partnership.

The TAP+ residency element of this programme will give students of all ages in primary and special schools the opportunity to have their TAP+ trained teacher and artist working together in their classroom facilitating the development of these essential skills for students to enjoy and explore artistic and creative expression.

TAP+ provides trained teachers with the opportunity to host a fully funded TAP+ Artist in Residency in their school in 2024/25. This Department of Education-led initiative is a highly innovative, creative and participant-responsive programme that promotes professional learning towards partnership.

!!!! Opportunity For Teachers: Teaching Creative Skills Programme by The Big Idea

The Big Idea

Deadline: Open 

The Big Idea have created a full 14-week creative programme of learning resources for your Transition Year or Leaving Cert Applied students.  Each teacher and tutor will receive a teaching pack to support in-class activities regardless of their school context. You will also join their B!G Teacher community with exclusive offers from their partners.

All resources are digitally formatted with two lessons per week. The adaptable format can be used for either a 40-minute class or a 1-hour class with teacher prompts and lesson plans included as well as built-in assessment structures and additional class materials.

Their national and international network of professional experts will share knowledge directly with your students, supporting them in their project development. Student teams will be matched with Big Idea industry Mentors giving them the opportunity to gain advice on next steps, ask questions to get students thinking, ask them things to consider or offer resources to explore.

There will be a free B!G Idea Learning Pack given to every student, which includes all the materials needed to engage in the programme.

Visit the link for more information and to apply for your school https://thebigidea.ie/teachers/