Schools and Outreach Projects

Éigse loves working with Carlow schools and community groups and we’re always enthusiastic about growing and expanding our programme each year to invest in our children and our community’s future. With a special focus this year on the natural environment and especially the River Barrow, Éigse have developed outreach programmes to engage with the children, schools and community of Carlow to share in their learning of the joy, excitement and mystery of the world that we live in. In our ongoing effort to keep the spirit of the Éigse festival alive beyond the 10 days in June, we have provided activities, workshops, lectures and projects for the children and community of Carlow all year round.

ÉIGSE SCHOOLS AMBASSADORS

The Schools Ambassadors programme was developed to engage the interest of Carlow primary school children and their families in the workings of the Éigse Carlow Arts Festival. The huge year round effort that goes into planning and organising the festival provides great opportunity for children and adults alike to learn and get involved. Two children from each participating school are invited to a number of team meetings where we tell them all about the life of a festival and what goes on ‘behind the scenes’. The Ambassadors programme has a view to developing the children’s interest in the Éigse festival and all it entails and giving them the opportunity to share their stories with their peers in a classroom presentation setting or indeed their families at home. The children receive specially created Éigse Ambassador Packs to take home with them to keep fresh in their mind all the exciting things they have seen and learned in our care.

ÉIGSE ENVIRONMENTAL ENHANCEMENT PROJECT

The environment, education and community form an integral part of the ethos and vision of the Éigse Carlow Arts Festival so in conjunction with MSD we have developed a project to benefit all three. Again targeting Carlow primary schools children will learn about the natural environment, why it’s important to preserve it and how we can do that in our schools and homes with a focus on water as a source of energy, drawing on examples such as the River Barrow and its inhabitants. The hope is that each pupil will feel confident in their knowledge and environmental enhancement capabilities and go back to spread the word throughout their schools and homes encouraging each family, class and pupil to make sustainable changes. From this each school submits a project focusing on environmental changes within their school.

YOUNG CRITICS FORUM

A continuation and development of the programme from 2010, the Young Critics Forum leaves no stone unturned (or no turn unstoned!). A cast of young critics from local schools are tasked by children’s writer Dave Donoghue to critique the festival and its event from their own perspective. Workshops are held in advance of the festival and again at the end of the festival where a range of Éigse events will be taken apart and scrutinised. In 2011 the young critics will also learn to preview and interview artists in advance of the festival. The Carlow Nationalist, KCLR 96FM and the Festival Director will be actively involved in giving the children as much information as they can soak in about the festival and continued support about their roles as critics. The reviews will be printed in the Carlow Nationalist shortly after the festival. Keep an eye out to see what our young critics make of the 2011 festival!

VISUAL ARTS FOR SCHOOLS

Interpretive talks & workshops:
Éigse and VISUAL present gallery tours for both primary and secondary schools. Tours can accommodate a maximum number of 36 students and teachers are required to remain with tours at all times. Tours during Éigse are free and must be booked in advance at box office. There is limited availability so tours will be offered one class per school, where spare capacity allows, schools can be offered a second tour for another class.

ÉIGSE BEAG in conjunction with Fairgreen Shopping Centre

Working with our local partners, Fairgreen Shopping Centre, we have developed a series of mini Éigse weekends outside of the regular festival dates to keep the spirit of Éigse alive in Carlow all year round. The mini festivals will kick off in April with street entertainment and workshops to increase the sense of activity and excitement in the town centre. The first of these takes place over Easter weekend, 2011. Keep your eyes peeled in the Fairgreen Shopping Centre and the Carlow Nationalist for details of the next Éigse Beag event. It might just open your eyes to BIG things!

IBM LEGO ROBOT PROJECT

IBM celebrates its 100th birthday during the Éigse Carlow Arts Festival this year and we are very excited to work with IBM for the third year in a row. Volunteers from IBM conduct workshops on location to introduce older school children to the engineering process of LEGO robotics. The workshop involves building and programming of the robots and provides quality learning experiences for all. The workshop will take place on Friday June 17th and interested schools are asked to contact the office on 059-9140491. Places will be reserved on a first come, first serve basis.

CARLOW SILVER SONG

Carlow Silver Song is an engagement project developed by Éigse and Cormiosa Choir to encourage older people from the Carlow region to blow the cobwebs off their voice and belt out a tune. The aim is enjoyment and the project will culminate in a showcase performance at the 2011 Culture Night on September 23rd. The project is initiated to empower people to rise to the artistic and physical challenges of using their voice and to rediscover the joy of singing so dust off those vocal chords and show the young ones how it’s done!