Preparing for life in the reel world
ÁINE ANDREWS, the art teacher at Coláiste Choilm in Ballincollig, Co Cork, hopes that when this year’s fifth year pupils leave school, they will always remember the day they spent on Myrtleville beach making a film called Venus at School.
The film was one of the projects that the then transition year pupils created as part of the Creative Engagement programme which was introduced to secondary schools about 10 years ago. It is run by the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD). Funding of up to €3,000 is available to each school wishing to partake in the programme.
Venus at School was recently screened at Triskel Christchurch in Cork to an audience of pupils and teachers from Colaiste Choilm. It might not win an Oscar, but for Andrews and her pupils, the film is all about making connections with art as well as learning about filming techniques. Based on Botticelli’s Venus, the film also references the artist’s La Primavera. In making the film, the pupils were helped by a past pupil from the school, professional cameraman Daniel Fleming.
Andrews says she is very positive about the Creative Engagement programme, but is be fearful of cuts. “I’ve met other art teachers who are also very happy with the programme. In our school, we have all the art disciplines, from drama and music to art. But the one thing that was missing was film. Now, the school owns a camera and it’s used for all kinds of filming. More and more students are becoming familiar with filming techniques.”
Derek West is the NAPD arts officer. “We wanted to promote the arts in education and produced a policy document which states the belief that the arts are at the heart of the nation. From there, we pushed out the begging bowl and fortunately got funding.
“We then really wanted to promote a scheme that would involve pupils working with teachers and artists. Áine Andrews has been enthused about doing something creative with her pupils over the years. There’s also Catherine Frost, the music teacher at Colaiste Choilm who does Creative Engagement programmes with her pupils. Creative Engagement is not specifically for transition year but it works best with these pupils because they have more freedom in their timetables.”
About 10% of secondary schools are involved in the Creative Engagement programme. “The teachers have to roll up their sleeves and get stuck into the activities.”
The Creative Engagement programme at Colaiste Choilm is not just about film and music. Some pupils worked with a stone mason to create a dry stone arch in the school grounds.
Eve Foster is a fifth year pupil at Loreto College in Crumlin, Dublin. Last year, she was involved in a Creative Engagement project making a patchwork quilt on the theme of United in Diversity. About 60 girls, some from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, were involved in designing and making the quilt.
“We all picked a country. I chose China and had to come up with a panel which I designed and embroidered. I included a pagoda and a Chinese dragon. The quilt is hanging in our dining hall. The great thing was that students who weren’t studying art got a chance to be part of it.”
Foster’s fellow pupil, Karen Hamilton, says the project was a great way of learning about different cultures. “I got to learn a lot about Japan, my chosen country. The quilt was a team effort. Everybody got to do a panel. It was great to do the patchwork. It gives us the chance to be creative after we have left school”.
But in these straitened times, is the Creative Engagement programme a luxury? “I don’t think so,” says West. “With the new Junior Cycle coming on board, one of its aspirations is to encourage creativity, imagination and thinking outside the box. It’s about learning by doing and I would strongly maintain that the arts tick that box. It’s about thinking through a project from conception to completion.”
Exams will only be a small component of the Junior Cycle, says West. “From the arts point of view, one of the things the NAPD is interested in is the opportunity for schools to devise some of their own learning experiences.”
It’s hoped that pupils will get recognition for involvement in Creative Engagement, which will constitute part of their portfolios. The Creative Engagement programme has a number of established partnerships with, for example, Poetry Ireland and Young Social Innovators. School days have never been so varied and colourful.
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