Creative education in Irish schools continues to grow as The B!G Idea prepares for its most ambitious year yet. Following last year’s success, the team is expanding the programme across Ireland to bring creative thinking, innovation and real-world problem solving to even more students and teachers in 2022.
Following a hugely successful year, The B!G Idea team is pulling out all the stops to make 2022 even bigger and better. This year, we are thrilled to welcome 42 schools to the programme — a major leap from just eight schools last year. While this expansion is significant, we are more than ready for the challenge ahead.
These 42 schools are spread across 19 counties in Ireland, ensuring national reach and strong regional representation. Importantly, we are committed to inclusion and accessibility. Therefore, the programme will support both rural and urban schools and represent all sectors of education, including ETB schools, voluntary secondary schools, Gaelcholáistí, Educate Together schools and a high proportion of DEIS schools.
We believe creativity is a skill that can be learned, developed and strengthened. For this reason, creative education should be accessible to every student, regardless of background or location.
Although welcoming 42 schools marks a huge step forward, we know many schools remain on our waiting list. Unfortunately, due to financial and logistical limits, we cannot accommodate every applicant this year. However, we are actively seeking additional funding and support. As a result, we hope to expand the programme further and include even more schools next year.
We sincerely appreciate the interest shown by schools across Ireland. Every school that applied will be contacted, and those on the waiting list will be prioritised for future programmes. Our goal is to ensure that creative education opportunities continue to grow nationwide.
The B!G Idea programme runs from January to May, making this an exciting and busy time for our team. We will soon be welcoming approximately 80 teachers into The B!G Idea community. Each teacher will receive access to our dedicated Teacher Dashboard, the central hub for lessons, resources and programme updates.
The Teacher Dashboard provides:
By keeping everything in one easy-to-use platform, we make participation simple and accessible. Teachers can quickly find what they need, ask questions and stay connected throughout the programme.
With a growing network of schools, teachers and students, 2022 promises to be an exciting year for creative education in Ireland. We are looking forward to getting started and supporting the next generation of creative thinkers and problem-solvers.
Interested in mentoring and supporting students in 2022? Join The B!G Idea community today.
