Creative Cluster School
During the academic year 2020/2021 an application was submitted by Borris College in collaboration with CBS Carlow and St. Leo’s College Carlow for the 2021 Creative Cluster School grant.
Creative Clusters can comprise of between 3 to 5 schools collaborating on the design, implementation, evaluation and dissemination of an innovative arts and creative learning project which supports them to address a common issue or challenge. 450 schools applied for this two-year initiative. Successfully our Creative Cluster was one of 21 clusters nationally chosen for the two year grant. Work commenced in 2021/2022 and continues into the 2022/2023 academic year.
The establishment of a creative committee of students and teachers alike in our school encouraged the collaboration of design, implementation, evaluation and dissemination of creative learning projects throughout our school community. Projects ranged from inter schools writing competitions, poster design and book clubs as examples. One such creative project was the development of a school Wellbeing Mural in conjunction with our active school Amber Flag committee. A successful BLAST ‘Bringing Live Arts to Students and Teachers’ under the Arts in Education Residency Initiative afforded our students the opportunity to work with local Kilkenny artist, Kiri Tulloch. In an inclusive environment our students were encouraged to develop their creativity in the planning and design of a four-wall mural. Students created the journey of a bird, nestled in a tree under the foothills of Mount Leinster. The birds leaving the tree symbolised their journey as first year students to the courageous, self-confident learners who fly high over Mount Leinster in their quest to reach their full potential as sixth year students. We are so very proud of them as ambassadors of our school.
This innovative creative cluster will continue to grow next year with the creative desire for a multi-functional and cross curricular development of an outdoor classroom. Building on our core values we are excited to work alongside our local Men’s Shed on this project in continuing to foster and develop our sense of community.