The Adventures of Me – Early Start Project

The documentary film 'The Adventures of Me', charts the project, of the same name, undertaken in early 2007 between Draíocht and the Early Start Unit of Scoil Mhuire Junior School in Blakestown, Dublin 15. The film was launched on 03 December 2007 by Seóna Ní Bhríain, Youth Arts Advisor to the Arts Council.

The Early Start Programme was developed to address the educational disadvantage experienced by pupils in schools which served areas of economic and social deprivation. The National Assessment of English Reading has found that 1 in 3 children in such areas experiences serious problems with literacy compared to a national average of 1 in 10.

The area of Draíocht’s remit, Dublin 15, has the youngest population in the country (43% are under 15 years of age). It is one of the most multicultural communities in the country, and is also an area which experiences great socio-economic disparity between neighbourhoods.

Draíocht’s Children & Youth Arts Officer, Anne O’Gorman, explains the ethos behind this pilot project: ‘We wanted to support the Early Start Programme by encouraging children to access the education system, as well as building positive experiences, confidence and skills in both parents and their children around reading and storytelling as activities at home. So we teamed up with the pupils and parents in the Early Start Unit of Scoil Mhuire Junior School in Blakestown early in 2007 and worked together with them in three phases over 1 month, starting in January. The project had 3 elements. First was oral storytelling with Niall de Burca. Recognised for the diversity of his stories and with an ability to reach all ages, Niall is a familiar figure to many Irish children through his innovative school programmes. His “Storytelling As A Tool Of Education” workshops are highly recommended by educators. Next it was time to explore some of the most magical children’s books available with myself, Anne. I spent time showing the children some beautiful books and their illustrations and guided them through the basics of reading, turning pages and the enjoyment of books. And finally we had a bookmaking project with artist Sarah Kernaghan, during which the children and their families designed and made their own book, which was all about the many adventures (real or imagined!) that they’d had from the day they were born.’

Throughout the project, Draíocht filmed the children, parents and facilitators, as they progressed through the stages with enthusiasm and launched the DVD to a host of invited education specialists, including representatives from local government, the arts council, libraries, children’s literature specialists, and most importantly the parents and children themselves who were featured on the DVD.

Draíocht’s children and youth arts programme seeks to nurture relationships with the 26 primary schools of Dublin 15 and to provide access (across all areas of programming) to a range of meaningful, high quality experiences in various art forms.