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Summer CPD for Teachers: The Magic of Everyday Materials in the Early Years Classroom 1 - 5 Jul 2024

This 5-day summer course for teachers with visual artist Lucy Hill takes a deep dive into the creative potential of ordinary, everyday materials in classrooms with very young children.

This is a five-day Department of Education EPV-approved summer course for teachers.
Suitable for all levels of experience

Over five days, teachers will have opportunities to explore each of the visual art curriculum strands (Drawing, Painting, Construction, Fabric & Fibre, Clay) guided by the four Aistear themes (Well-being; Identity and Belonging; Communicating; and Exploring and Thinking), with both individual and collaborative approaches to activities.

Through practical, enjoyable, and hands-on studio work, we will delve into the relationship between art, play and learning, while being inclusive of children’s many non-verbal modes of learning.

This course reinforces the value of art for young children in the primary school and early years contexts and provides teachers with increased knowledge, skill and confidence in implementing and documenting their own learning and creative practice in the classroom.

This course will appeal to teachers of all levels of experience who are working with young children and is facilitated by Lucy Hill, who has particular expertise in early years arts practice. This will be an inspiring continuing professional development opportunity sure to give you lots of new ideas for engaging young children in art and build your confidence.

Lucy Hill

About Lucy Hill...

Lucy Hill is a visual artist, arts facilitator, and academic. She was awarded her Ph.D. in art education from NCAD in 2021. Her Ph.D. thesis has an early year's visual arts focus and was runner-up in the Peter Lang Young Scholars publication award. She is an Assistant Professor of Visual Art Education at Dublin City University in the School of Arts Education and Movement. She was the inaugural Early Years Artist in Residence at The Ark in 2018. She has exhibited her visual art widely and has been awarded three public art commissions. She is the recipient of awards and bursaries including an Arts Council YPCE bursary and three Exploring and Thinking Bursary awards. Her academic work has been published by Sage, Routledge, and Intellect Books. Her monograph, ‘Everyday Artfulness: A Posthuman Perspective on Young Children's Play with Materials’ will be published by Peter Lang International in July 2024 as part of the New Disciplinary Perspectives in Education series.