School children from across Northern Ireland have this week been letting their imagination run wild during classes “inspired through nature”.
Pupils from several primary schools have been taking part in the initiative from the Pushkin Trust, which has seen them learn through creative writing, music, dance and environmental workshops.
Founded by the late Sacha, Duchess of Abercorn, the Trust runs classes for school children aged nine to 11, which take place in the idyllic setting of Baronscourt Estate in Co Tyrone.
Established in 1987, the trust which gained the support of poets including Seamus Heaney, sought to bridge the divide between Catholic and Protestant children and between the north and south.
The trust’s activities later extended to drama, music and art and involves primary, secondary, Irish medium and special needs schools.
This week pupils from King’s Park PS in Lurgan, St Paul’s PS, Irvinestown as well as Deravoy National School, Co Monaghan were among those to take part in the Pushkin Pathway Programme, which this year has a theme of ‘Hitch the Sails’.
Children and their teachers are encouraged to “discover their inspiration, imagination and integration”.
They participated in an environmental creative writing, art and music workshops, as well as “curiosity and wonder, encouraging children and their teachers to delve in to their own authentic inner voice”.
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Denise Mullan, director of the Pushkin Trust, said: “We want the children to use their senses and to open their minds to the world of the imagination and to be inspired through nature”.
For more information, please visit: www.pushkintrust.com
