Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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236. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of students who will participate in creative schools in the 2024-2025 academic year. [38598/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Creative Schools is a flagship initiative of the Creative Youth Plan 2023-2027, supporting schools to put the arts and creativity at the heart of children’s and young people’s lives. It is led by the Arts Council in partnership with my Department and the Department of Education.

Since 2018, the scheme has supported schools to develop and implement a Creative Schools plan over 2 years. Access to the initiative is open to all primary and post-primary schools, along with Youthreach centres that are recognised and funded by the Department of Education, that have not already participated in a previous round of Creative Schools.

Each school participating in the initiative is provided with expert support from a Creative Associate, assigned to work with them for up to nine days per year, and a grant of €4,000 towards activities and projects over the two years.

The 2-year journey of each school, or centre, in Creative Schools is unique. How the Creative School plan is developed and delivered is bespoke – led by the school or centre itself, to include forms of art and creativity, scope of activity and participation by the students and learners across classes and school years.

In the 2024-2025 academic year, 325 schools will participate in the Creative Schools programme. This number includes schools in their second year of the initiative from the 2023 intake.

All funding through my Department relating to Creative Schools is part of the Arts Council’s annual allocation, the management of which is a matter for the Council under the Arts Act 2003.