Kildare primary school pupils invited to picture a more inclusive society through art

Primary school pupils across County Kildare have been invited to picture a more inclusive society through art.

Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, Anne Rabbitte TD, launched the annual 'Someone Like Me' primary schools’ art competition on Friday, September 13 last, and has invited Kildare primary schools to take part.

Minister Rabbitte encouraged primary school principals, teachers and pupils alike to take part in this year’s competition as a way of ensuring acceptance and inclusion of disabled children from an early age. 

She elaraborated: "We have just launched the new Autism Innovation Strategy; the vision for this Strategy is to provide the building blocks for a more inclusive society, where autistic people are understood and have equity of opportunity to participate in cultural, social and economic life and lead meaningful and fulfilled lives as valued members of the community. 

"In this way, the Autism Innovation Strategy is firmly rooted in the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities."

Minister Rabbitte continued: "In education settings there has been a steady increase in the number of autistic children availing of special classes and special school places.

"Based on preliminary data for the 2023 to 2024 school year, there are more than 14,500 students in autism classes in mainstream primary and post-primary schools... this represents approximately 1.5 per cent of the overall primary and post-primary pupil population.

"One of the four pillars of the strategy is to develop an autism affirming society so building acceptance and understanding is crucial to achieve this."

"The 'Someone Like Me' art competition is an important way of building this acceptance and understanding of all disabilities, including autism, among the primary school community," she concluded.

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Dr Aideen Hartney, the Director of the National Disability Authority, also said: "Having attended last year’s award ceremony and being in awe of the amazing art pieces on display, I am very much looking forward to this year’s competition."

She added: "Awareness of disability is a stepping stone in the journey to disability equality and is necessary to create a vision for a more inclusive education system and society."

Now in its ninth year, the competition, which is organised and funded by the National Disability Authority, enables Ireland’s young people to learn about inclusivity and diversity through the medium of art. 

Pupils and their teachers across the country will be provided with cross-curricular learning and teaching materials to help them develop an awareness and understanding of visible and non-visible disabilities.

Minister Anne Rabbitte launching the competition. Photograph by Finbarr O'Rourke.

These materials are also available to download on the 'Someone Like Me' website, www.someonelikemecompeition.ie.

The competition, which offers a range of prizes up to the value of €1,250, is open to all primary school pupils from junior infants to sixth class.

Entries are welcome from individual pupils, a class or even a whole school as a combined effort, and they can come in all shapes and sizes and can be anything from a poster or collage to a papier-mâché or a mixed-media sculpture.

There will be a junior and senior category winner in every county, along with an overall national winner.  

To be in with a chance to win Creative Care Packages, schools should submit their early entries by Friday, October 25, 2024. 

The final deadline for entries is Friday, November 15, 2024.

More information can be found on the aforementioned 'Someone Like Me' website.