Minister of State Anne Rabbitte T.D. joined Galway Primary School pupils to launch annual Someone Like Me Art Competition
Minister of State with responsibility for disability, Anne Rabbitte T.D. joined primary school pupils from Ábalta Special School and St Annin’s National School, in Galway yesterday, to launch the annual Someone Like Me primary schools’ art competition.
Ábalta Special School and St Annin’s National School were named Galway Senior and Junior County Winners respectively of last year’s Someone Like Me art competition.
The NDA are in our ninth year of funding this competition, which allows young people in Ireland to learn about inclusivity and diversity through the medium of art.
Pupils and their teachers across the country will be provided with specially written cross-curricular learning and teaching materials to help them develop an awareness and understanding of visible and non-visible disabilities, drawing on their own personal experiences of disability in a bid to help create a more inclusive society. These materials are also available to download directly from the Someone Like Me website.
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, saying:
“We have just launched the new Autism Innovation Strategy... 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.”
The competition, 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 and entries are welcome from individual pupils, a class or even a whole school as a combined effort. Entries can come in all shapes and sizes and can be anything from a poster or collage to a papier-mâché or 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 25 October 2024. The final deadline for entries is 15 November 2024.
More information can be found on Someone Like Me Art Competition website.