Armed with some creative examples of what happens in The Ark I headed down to the INTO (Irish National Teachers' Organisation) conference themed around Creativity and Arts in the Primary School in Gorey last weekend.
Around 300 teachers and principals from across Ireland were in attendance over the two days and it was lovely to see some familiar faces and especially to meet some new ones at my stand for The Ark.
The Ark’s General Manager Avril Ryan also attended the conference as a delegate and participated in the positive and lively discussions that explored the theme of creativity in children’s lives which is central to the founding principles of The Ark.
Alongside some lovely musical performances from local schools, I had an information stand for The Ark set up for people to access throughout the day. I was very proud to be able to decorate the stand with some of the colourful and imaginative creations from The Garden Party, part of this summer’s visual arts programme Earth Explorers, and with images of past programmes.
The character filled Garden Party plant pot attracted a lot of attention. People were very impressed by the talent and attention to detail of our visiting summer artists and I hope it will inspire some creative activities and early spring blooms in classrooms around Ireland before too long.
It was great to be invited by the INTO to be a part of this event and to have the opportunity to spread the news of The Ark to teachers around Ireland. It sparked some fascinating conversations and ideas which I look forward to feeding into the creative team in The Ark.
For further information on the content of the day follow this link to the INTO website, http://www.into.ie/ROI/NewsEvents/Conferences/EducationConsultativeConference/.
I hope to see lots of you celebrating the festive season with us over the coming weeks.
Jeanine MacQuarrie
Box Office Manager
Around 300 teachers and principals from across Ireland were in attendance over the two days and it was lovely to see some familiar faces and especially to meet some new ones at my stand for The Ark.
The Ark’s General Manager Avril Ryan also attended the conference as a delegate and participated in the positive and lively discussions that explored the theme of creativity in children’s lives which is central to the founding principles of The Ark.
Alongside some lovely musical performances from local schools, I had an information stand for The Ark set up for people to access throughout the day. I was very proud to be able to decorate the stand with some of the colourful and imaginative creations from The Garden Party, part of this summer’s visual arts programme Earth Explorers, and with images of past programmes.
The character filled Garden Party plant pot attracted a lot of attention. People were very impressed by the talent and attention to detail of our visiting summer artists and I hope it will inspire some creative activities and early spring blooms in classrooms around Ireland before too long.
It was great to be invited by the INTO to be a part of this event and to have the opportunity to spread the news of The Ark to teachers around Ireland. It sparked some fascinating conversations and ideas which I look forward to feeding into the creative team in The Ark.
For further information on the content of the day follow this link to the INTO website, http://www.into.ie/ROI/NewsEvents/Conferences/EducationConsultativeConference/.
I hope to see lots of you celebrating the festive season with us over the coming weeks.
Jeanine MacQuarrie
Box Office Manager
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