News

October 2011

This briefing note has been prepared to highlight the key changes contained in Children First 2011, relative to the original 1999 publication.

It is not a comprehensive guide to Children First 2011 which should be read in its entirety.

Children First 2011 is a clearer and more concise document, with some significant changes since the previous guidelines. Children First was first published in 1999. The principle and substance of this document (2011) are unchanged. The Guidance has been updated to reflect new policy, legislation and organisation - the establishment of the HSE, HIQA, and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. It incorporates lessons from investigations, reviews and inspections over the past decade. This document reflects the growing awareness of the impact of ongoing neglect on children in its guidance. It also includes bullying as a feature of abuse.

Legislation

In the Foreword, Minister Fitzgerald states: "We intend to enact legislation so that all people who are working with children will have a statutory duty to comply with the Children First: national guidance."  As of now Children First is not yet on a statutory basis, pending the publication and enactment of new legislation.

Definitions of child abuse

The list of what constitutes physical abuse of a child has been expanded to include slapping, observing violence and "allowing or creating a substantial risk of significant harm to a child."

There is express reference to and acknowledgement of the harm caused to children by exposure to domestic violence, which is included in the definition of emotional abuse. Exposure to inappropriate or abusive material through new technology is also included for the first time.

There have been two additions to the signs and symptoms of neglect as follows:

• inattention to basic hygiene and
• failure to provide adequate care for the child’s developmental problems

Responsibilities of organisations

Consistent with the principles of Children First, every organisation, both public and private, that is providing services for children or that is in regular direct contact with children should:

• ensure best practice in the recruitment of staff or volunteers, which includes Garda vetting, taking up of references, good HR practices in interviewing, induction training, probation and ongoing supervision and management;
• ensure that staff members or volunteers are aware of how to recognise signs of child abuse or neglect.

Chapter 5 covers the procedures for assessment and management of child protection and welfare concerns and has a much clearer structure of guidance for HSE professionals.

Chapter 10 covers training and there is a new section recommending interagency training on child protection and welfare.

Appendix 8: Guidance for developing local child protection and welfare procedures. This section notes the requirement for consistency and notes that the definitions, reporting procedures and guidance on confidentiality (Chapter 2 and 3) should not be changed or adapted in any way.

Garda vetting

The need for all those working with children to be vetted, the role of the Garda Vetting Unit and the intention to put this on a statutory basis, by establishing a National Vetting Bureau, is also included in the revised Children First. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence published the National Vetting Bureau Bill 2011 on July 27th 2011 which was then circulated for consultation and submissions invited from interested parties. It is anticipated that the final legislation will be published at the end of October 2011.

Organisations are reminded that best practice in the recruitment of staff or volunteers remains taking up of references, good HR practices in interviewing, induction training, probation and ongoing supervision and management, as well as Garda vetting.

Accessing Children First 2011

Department of Children and Youth Affairs (2011) Children First: national guidance for the protection and welfare for children is available to download from http://www.dcya.gov.ie/viewdoc.asp?fn=/documents/Child_Welfare_Protection/ChildrenFirst.pdf

Printed copies are currently available from the Government Publications Office, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2, at a cost of €5.

Arts organisations working with children and young people are advised to access the document, read it thoroughly and incorporate changes into their own policies and procedures, as appropriate.

This scheme is co-funded by the Arts Council but administered by the National Youth Council of Ireland. Please note that this award may be subject to different conditions and criteria than the awards directly administered by the Arts Council. Requests for information or application forms should be directed to the National Youth Council of Ireland.

The Artist in Youth Work Scheme is offered as a means of extending and enhancing opportunities for young people to experience and participate in the arts.

The aim of the scheme is to encourage artistic collaboration between professional artists and young people. Young people will have the opportunity to work with and learn from practitioners of excellence in their field. Equally, artists will have the opportunity to enrich their own professional practice through the contextual experience of working with young people.

There are two awards under this scheme. The Artist in Residency award and the Youth Arts Development award.

The closing date for applications is 5pm Thursday 29th September 2011.

For more information please visit the National Youth Council of Ireland website here.

With the support of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the Music Capital Scheme is continuing past its initial pilot phase (2008 - 2010). The scheme is available again in two streams; Stream 1 for the purchase of banks of instruments for non-professional performing groups and Stream 2 for the purchase of an instrument by highly-skilled musicians, performing at a professional level in any genre of music.

The deadline for applications to the scheme is Tuesday 04 October 2011, at 5.30pm and applications must be in the Music Network offices in hard copy, by that time.
The application forms and guidelines are available on the Music Network website, in both PDF and Word formats.

For information and enquiries on the Music Capital Scheme, either contact Aisling Ryan at
capitalscheme@musicnetwork.ie or on 01 4433320.

Young people from ensembles awarded funding through the Arts Council's Young Ensembles Scheme (YES) 2010 participated in a showcase and networking event on 5th March, 2011.  The Lewis Glucksman Gallery, which ran a project supported through the scheme, hosted and facilitated this event at the Gallery in Cork city, in partnership with the Arts Council.

The Arts Council places immense value on the young people and youth arts leaders who develop artistic work under the scheme and we were delighted with the high quality of the projects showcased on the day.

The next Young Ensembles Scheme (YES) closing date has been set for Friday 29 April 2011.

Applications are invited for activities beginning between July 1st and December 31st 2011 and completed by June 30th 2012.  The primary purpose of this award is to support groups of young people between the ages of 12 and 23 to create ambitious and original work together in any art form (e.g.: circus, dance, digital media, film, music, theatre, literature, visual arts, or any combination of the above).  Groups/ensembles must be made up of 3 or more members.

The maximum award available is €10,000.

Full details on this award, including guidelines and criteria, are available here.

Please feel free to print out the Flyer (0.08 MB, Adobe PDF)  for distribution and display!

A report written by Imelda Barnard on Encountering the Arts a one-day conference held at IMMA last November is now available here.  The conference was the third in a series of events held during 2010 which aimed to interrogate the current relationship, and explore possible synergies, between the arts and education; and respond to the recommendations of Points of Alignment (Arts Council: 2008). Previous events included Creating Conversations (2.88 MB, Adobe PDF) organised by the Department of Arts Education and Physical Education at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick (January 2010).

European Agenda on Culture:  In June 2010, the Open Method Working Group on 'developing synergies with education, especially arts education' published its Final Report.  The group addressed questions on artistic and cultural education (including trans-disciplinarity, heritage education and media literacy), teachers, artists and other culture professionals training needs, partnerships with the civil society and mediator's roles, and the evaluation of the effects of artistic and cultural education.  The Final Report contains recommendations addressed to both European and national levels, a compilation of case-studies on which the recommendations are based as well as proposals for future work.  The Report will feed into discussions by the Cultural Affairs Committee of the future Council Workplan on Culture for 2011 onwards.

President Mary McAleese announced Siobhán Parkinson as Laureate na nÓg, Ireland’s first laureate for children’s literature, presenting her with the Laureate na nÓg medal at a special event at the Arts Council.

Laureate na nÓg is a new initiative of the Arts Council with the support of the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Children’s Books Ireland and Poetry Ireland. The honour has been established to engage young people with high quality children’s literature and to underline the importance of children’s literature in our cultural and imaginative life. Laureate na nÓg is also supported by Eason’s and by the Irish Times.

Speaking to an audience of children and adults, the President said writers had "woven magic into people's minds and hearts with words".

"Books are stepping stones to your best self," President McAleese said. "They take you right into your own head, they give you a great realm of friends, they open you to the whole world around you."

Pat Moylan, Chairman of the Arts Council, said, "The Arts Council is proud to initiate Ireland's first laureate for children's literature. Laureate na nÓg seeks to broaden and enrich young people's imaginative worlds, to encourage a love of reading and to inculcate the value of literature among children and young people."

"Literature plays a unique role in helping us to interrogate who we are as a society, it has the power to make us understand what it means to be human, and it offers us that most subversive of things - pleasure," Ms Moylan added.
 
She continued, ‘This is an exciting and valuable initiative and it comes at a time when good news and optimism, particularly in relation to children and young people, are vital. Through the Laureate, and the Arts Council's overall support for children's literature, we are working to get more children reading and reading more adventurously.'
 
Speaking about her appointment Siobhán Parkinson said, "I am thrilled and honoured to be chosen as the first Laureate na nÓg. I believe that children's literature lays the foundations of the imaginative life of a people, and that every child deserves to have access to a reading haven -- a well-stocked and well-run library in their school and in their community."

We are pleased to announce that two new resources are available on our website for arts organisations working with children and young people.

Both resources have been designed as templates that can be adapted by arts organisations for their own use. 

Child protection policy and procedures sample information for young people and children is designed as a leaflet that can be given to children and young people. It is intended to provide them with a brief guide to the measures that are in place in their arts organisation to ensure their safety and welfare. Information covered includes code of behaviour, making a complaint and how they can expect to be treated.

Child protection policy and procedures sample information for parents and guardians provides an outline for parents/guardians on the policies and procedures that are in place in an arts organisation attended by their child. It includes guidance on recruitment procedures, how the organisation will communicate with the parents in the event of a concern regarding their child and lists points on how parents can cooperate with them to ensure the safety and welfare of their child.

These resources were drawn up in consultation with arts organisations who work with children and young people. Their assistance and expertise is appreciated. 

• Child protection policy and procedures sample information for young people and children (0.24 MB, MS Word)
• Child protection policy and procedures sample information for parents and guardians (0.09 MB, MS Word) 

Young people have vowed to transform derelict and unused buildings into vibrant cultural centres - if Nama and local authorities around the country give them the space and the opportunity.

The idea emerged from the first ever Arts Council youth arts forum, which saw some 60 young people from all over Ireland gather in Dublin. They said that, given the chance, young people could take over buildings now lying empty around the country and turn them into exciting exhibition centres, rehearsal spaces, film sets and artists' studios.

The gathering, made up of young people from all over the country, played an active role throughout the weekend, participating vigorously in the debates and discussions.

The participants, all aged between 15 and 24, said they wanted agencies like the Arts Council to form their own "youth advisory committees" to nurture their creativity. Such initiative within state bodies would mean that young people could represent themselves, putting forward their own ideas and proposals on cultural policy, not merely being represented by older adults.

Delegates from Wicklow, Antrim, Donegal, Monaghan, Sligo, Galway, Limerick, Cork, Waterford, Wexford, Westmeath, Laois, Louth as well as various parts of Dublin said they wanted to form a national union for youth arts to create more opportunities for talent to emerge.

Art-Youth-Culture: FYI, a series of arts-based workshops, discussions and meetings between young people and policy makers, took place in Filmbase, Exchange Dublin and the Civic Office on Dublin's Wood Quay. Organised by the Arts Council with support from the European Commission's Youth in Action programme administered by Leargas, the gathering quickly burst into life. Young visual artists took to the streets, musicians jammed with a mixture of French horn, cello, electric guitar and more, while ideas about the arts and cultural policy were "tweeted" and used to update blogs.

Gaye Tanham , Arts Council’s Head of Young People, Children, and Education said the weekend had been a huge success, giving voice to the 15 percent of the citizenship of Ireland between 15 and 24 years of age in an unprecedented and direct way. 35 percent of the population Ireland is made up of 0-24 year olds (CSO 2006 figures).

"FYI represented a great opportunity to shed light on the important contribution of young people to the arts and cultural life, and to listen to the ideas, views and experiences of the young people from different backgrounds who took part in the event" she said.

"It allowed us to reflect on the art and practice of consulting, listening to and transferring power to young people in policy-making processes that impact on their experience of the arts and cultural life. It has undoubtedly opened a new chapter in young people's participation in Ireland." Gaye Tanham added.

More information available on the conference website:  www.futurearts.ie

You are invited to attend an open meeting at the Arts Council, on Friday 19 February, to assist in planning the three-day event, Art-Youth-Culture: FYI.

When: Friday, 19th February, 2 - 4pm
Where: The Arts Council, 70 Merrion Square, Dublin 2
Who: This planning meeting is for young people between the ages of 15-23, and youth arts leaders.

Background - Art-Youth-Culture: FYI invites young people between the ages of 15 and 23 to discuss young people's participation in cultural life and the arts with their peers and key policy-makers. The event will take place in Dublin from March 27th -29th and will include three days of arts-based workshops and discussions, concluding with a meeting between young people, arts policy makers, and government representatives. Art-Youth-Culture FYI is an initiative of the Arts Council’s Young People, Children and Education team and is supported through the EU Youth in Action programme, administered by Léargas.

On Friday, 19th February, the Arts Council will host an informal meeting for anyone interested in participating in Art-Youth-Culture: FYI. At the meeting, we will share a rough outline for this event and invite you to share your ideas about the structure over the three days and the key questions you consider important to explore. Young people interested in attending as delegates, as well as youth arts leaders, are welcome to attend the planning meeting.

If you wish to attend the planning meeting on Friday February 19th, please reply to: Mathilde.veldt@artscouncil.ie

For more information on Art-Youth-Culture: FYI, and how to get involved, please visit the Arts Council website: http://www.artscouncil.ie/en/areas-of-work/actions/FYI.aspx

If you are unable to attend the planning meeting, have too far to travel, or learn about it too late, we welcome your ideas by email. If you wish to send suggestions by email, please sent a completed  (0.07 MB, Adobe PDF)  to Mathilde.veldt@artscouncil.ie.

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the author and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Natural Born Artists, the international conference on arts for early years, organised by Baboró, took place this October in Galway.

The conference was opened by Michael D Higgins, TD. Keynote speakers included Martin Drury, Arts Director of the Arts Council, and David Coleman, psychologist, author and radio and television presenter.

Download the text of Martin Drury's speech (0.08 MB, Adobe PDF).

Music Network is delighted to announce a major philanthropic gift to be invested in music education in Ireland. €5 million has been donated by U2 and a further €2 million pledged by The Ireland funds to allow a national system of music education provision to be rolled out between 2010 and 2015.

With funding from the Arts Council, Music Network has over the last number of years been working to raise awareness of the value of music education, and of the need for enhanced provision through a national system of local music education services. A model developed by Music Network (as recommended in the Music Network report A National System of Local Music Education Services-Report of a Feasibility Study 2003) set out to make music education available to all children of the state irrespective of their geographical location and their social and economic circumstances. The model is widely agreed to be a workable and cost efficient solution.

"This gift allows us to implement a planned, integrated approach to music education at a national level so that the potential and talent of our young people can be developed. The roll-out of our model will make an important contribution to music in Ireland, and to educational provision generally," Deirdre McCrea Music Network CEO explains.

The Edge, speaking on behalf of U2, says, "Being around music at a young age was important for us and we were lucky to have it at school. We had been looking for some time for a way to get involved in an initiative in music education in Ireland. After talking to various people in Ireland about what to do, we came to the conclusion that the Music Network scheme is really well thought out and that we, in partnership with the Ireland Funds, should just get behind it."

Loretta Brennan Glucksman, Chair of The American Ireland Fund says, "Our goal is to stimulate philanthropy in Ireland and the scheme falls under two of our funding priorities-education and culture. We are thrilled to be part of a project, which will bring the Music Network Scheme nationwide as it is a proven success and has wide-ranging support from Government as well as the music education establishment. We believe that the programme will make a huge contribution to music education in Ireland."

The Minister for Education and Science, Batt O'Keeffe TD, says, "I'm delighted that U2 and The Ireland Funds have agreed to join us as partners in progressing the music agenda in Ireland. We recognised the gaps in music education in 2001 when a feasibility study was commissioned to examine how a national system of publicly supported local music schools might be provided. The pilot schemes which Government has funded since 2004 will now provide the model to roll the scheme out nationally. We are very grateful for the support of U2 and The Ireland Funds for the programme over the next six years. It has the potential to create a true legacy for music education in Ireland."

Music Network will administer the scheme, which will be rolled out on a phased basis, in a number of new locations each year, beginning in 2010 and including all musical genres. Involvement in the scheme will be offered on the basis of competitive tender. Local interests (for example one or more local VECs and/or local authorities, local private music schools, parents groups etc.) will be invited to bid for a three-year subsidy to provide for the costs of teachers and local administration; they must show how they will generate matching resources locally, and how they will plan to make the scheme sustainable in the longer term.

For further information please visit www.musicnetwork.ie.

The Arts Council is pleased to announce funding decisions for the Young Ensembles Scheme in 2009. 66 eligible applications were received, and of these 14 have been offered funding. The total demand for funding was €822,202.92. The available funding in 2009 was €140,000. A list of successful applicants is now included in the decisions database.

The Young Ensembles Scheme was introduced in 2008 and includes an evaluation process that will help to inform the future provision of Arts Council support in this area. We invite you to view the video of a reflection and evaluation workshop carried out with groups funded in 2008 on the Vimeo website.

Building on Guidelines for the protection and welfare of children and young people in the arts sector, we are pleased to introduce two new resources for artists and arts organisations working with children and young people. The resources are in response to requests from the arts sector. They are:

Guidelines for taking and using images of children and young people in the arts sector
The guidelines aim to provide support and guidance to arts organisations and artists working as arts practitioners, facilitators or tutors making, recording and using images of children and young people. Items such as informed consent, the legal context, privacy and publishing images on websites are covered in the resource.

Solo practitioner code of practice for working with children and young people
The code of practice aims to provide support and guidance to artists working with children and young people in a solo capacity as practitioners, facilitators or tutors. It is based on, and should be read in conjunction with established other good practice guidelines.

Both resources were developed in consultation with individual artists, arts organisations and the Health Service Executive Keeping Safe Information and Advice Persons.  We are very grateful for their assistance and expertise in developing the new resources

The document presents a wide range of research, primarily focusing on the area of arts-in-education but also includes information on work in other contexts such as arts in health, arts in youth work and arts in communities. The digest spans an almost thirty-year timeframe from 1979 to 2007.

For further information see http://newsletter.artscouncil.ie/e_article001232883.cfm?x=bdMr03w,b1SpHS2j,w.

The document is available to download at http://www.artscouncil.ie/Publications/Research_Digest.pdf.

On October 28th 2008, the Arts Council hosted a reflection and evaluation workshop for groups funded through the Young Ensembles Scheme. This highly interactive workshop, facilitated by David Kelly of the National Association of Youth Drama, aimed to gather recommendations and feedback about the pilot scheme and to give ensembles that received funding in 2008 an opportunity to meet each other and exchange experiences. 45 young people and leaders from 16 ensembles, representing a range of art-forms including film, dance, drama, writing, music, circus and street arts, shared their insights and ideas throughout the day.

The workshop was followed by a celebratory event, featuring music by the Mount Temple Jazz Ensemble and members of the Axis-Ballymun Ensemble.

The full list of ensembles funded through the scheme can be viewed at http://www.artscouncil.ie/en/we_funded.aspx.

The Arts Council today published Points of Alignment (0.29 MB, Adobe PDF) the Report of the Special Committee on the Arts and Education. The report was presented to the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Martin Cullen, T.D., and the Minister for Education and Science, Batt O’Keeffe, T.D.

To read the full press release please visit: http://http://www.artscouncil.ie/en/news/news.aspx

A Summary Guide to the report is also available: Summary Guide_Treoir Achomhair (0.08 MB, Adobe PDF)