Creative Centenaries is offering free creative, digital workshops exploring some of the key events of 1916 to primary and post-primary schools in Urban Village areas across Belfast and Derry~Londonderry.

These engaging sessions will use creative, digital technologies to help young people learn about events such as the Easter Rising and Battle of the Somme while developing new skills. Workshops available include:

Animation Workshop

Suitable for: Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3
Maximum spaces per workshop: 30
Areas of Learning: KS2: PDMU, The Arts, UICT, WAU, Communication / KS3: The Arts, Science & Technology, Environment & Society, History, LLW, Citizenship, UICT.

Description: In a 2.5 hour workshop, students will use specially created 2D designs involving characters from both the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme to script, capture and create their own stop motion animations. iPad and green screen technology will combine to tell an engaging story of both events.

Audio Recording Workshop

Suitable for: Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3
Maximum spaces per workshop: 30
Areas of Learning: KS2: PDMU, UICT, WAU, Literacy, Communication, The Arts /KS3: The Arts, Environment & Society, History, English, Politics, LLW, Citizenship, Literacy, Communication, UICT.

Description: In a 2.5-hour workshop, students will create radio news broadcasts imagining themselves live from the scene of the Easter Rising or Battle of the Somme. Students will take on the role of characters and explore the mind-set of those involved.

Digital Design Workshop

Suitable for: Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3
Maximum spaces per workshop: 30
Areas of Learning: KS2: UICT, WAU, Literacy, Communication, The Arts / KS3: The Arts, Environment & Society, History, English, Politics, LLW, Citizenship, Literacy, Communication, UICT.

Description: In a 2.5 hour workshop, students will use digital comic book storytelling to explore themes and events from throughout 1916, including the role of women in the Easter Rising and a narrative of the Battle of the Somme. Using green screen technology, pupils will also place themselves into iconic archive imagery from the time and produce their own comic book stories.

Filmmaking Workshop

Suitable for: Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3
Maximum spaces per workshop: 30
Areas of Learning: KS2: UICT, WAU, Communication, PDMU, The Arts / KS3: The Arts, Environment & Society, History, Citizenship, UICT, Communication, Literacy, Communication.

Description: In a 2.5 hour workshop, students will examine archive footage from 1916. They will then work in groups and combine elements of green screen and iPad filmmaking to recreate and retell moments from 1916, placing themselves live at the scene of the Easter Rising or Battle of the Somme and examining the importance of both events on society.

Book a free workshop now by contacting Paula Matthews on 028 9064 4333 or email: p.matthews@nervecentre.org. 

Creative Centenaries is the hub for information, events and resources around the Decade of Centenaries in Northern Ireland and throughout 2016 is running a programme to help aid learning around the 100-year anniversaries of events such as the Easter Rising and Battle of the Somme.

Creative Centenaries has created curriculum-linked graphic novels on the Easter Rising, Battle of the Somme, Sinking of the Lusitania and the lives of Alice Milligan and Francis Ledwidge.

Our interactive iBooks make use of rich archive content to examine the impact of 1916 on the island of Ireland, while four informative 2.5D animations offer an overview of the Decade of Centenaries, the Start of the First World War, the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme.

CLICK HERE to access the resources section of the website and view the resources on offer.