Historic Towns Initiative
A pilot initiative for maintaining heritage integrity and improving the quality of our historic towns and villages for residents and tourists.
Encourage greater awareness in your school of Ireland’s rich natural and cultural heritage with an engaging and stimulating visit from one of our Heritage in School experts.
Aims and Objectives
Learn more about bats, biodiversity, bogs, bread-making, bugs, charcoal-making, composting, early musical instruments, energy production, hedgerows, pondlife, traditional dance, vegetable growing, water conservation, woodlands, wildflowers and whales in your classroom or on a field trip.
How it Works
The Heritage in Schools scheme makes available to primary schools a panel of 175 Heritage Experts who will visit primary schools to work directly with the pupils. The visit by the heritage expert is part-funded by the school and the remaining costs are funded by the Heritage Council.
Experts on the panel possess a rich and diverse range of skills and knowledge in areas that include archaeology, agronomy, ancient societies, craft-working, folklore, geography, local history, military heritage, the natural environment, performance, the sciences and storytelling.
These experts provide engaging and interactive, cross-curricular learning through, storytelling, performance, practical and hands-on workshops. An additional educational tool and resource for teachers, the Heritage in Schools Scheme supports the stated aims and objectives of the SESE curriculum.
Benefits & Results
The scheme currently reaches nearly 100,000 primary school pupils during over 2,000 school visits each year. The value of the scheme is in the richness and depth of knowledge it makes available to children and teachers, encouraging an awareness of the genius of the natural and cultural world that surrounds us in our daily lives and engage children in a direct experience of their heritage, preferably outside the classroom where possible and appropriate.
News & Activities
Visit the Heritage in Schools website for the latest information about the project.
Get Involved
Bring heritage to life in your classroom! Search the Heritage in Schools online database to find a heritage expert that will complement the learning programme in your school. The website also includes downloads and links to some really useful classroom resources and publications.
