Animation Project success for schools

Councillor Sean McPeake Chair of Mid Ulster District Council meets with pupils from St. Patricks Primary School, Mullinahoe at the animation project launch.

The project involved the creation of educational comic books, telling the story of the 4 main heritage sites in the Mid Ulster area; Tullaghoge Fort, Beaghmore Stone Circles, Ardboe Cross and Abbey and The Hill of The O’Neill. The comic books were launched at the Burnavon, participating schools attended along with representatives from the Department of Communities and those who had a role in making the Comic Books.

Working closely with the Nerve Centre and local schools, there were approximately 120 students involved in the project from Ballytrea Primary School (Stewartstown), Windmill Integrated Primary School (Dungannon), St Joseph’s Primary School (Killennan) and St Patrick’s Primary (Ardboe). Workshops piloted the comic books with a primary school audience and gave key stage 2 pupils the skills they needed to produce an animation and complete the tasks, as set out in the educational resource within the comic books.

Niall Kerr from the Nerve Centre said, "The Nerve Centre was delighted to work with Mid-Ulster District Council to help bring the stories of important heritage sites to life for new audiences. The comic books will enable a new generation of learners to engage and interact with their local history. The development of supplementary education packs will also encourage the use of creative and digital media, including animation creation, to enhance learning and understanding in the classroom.

Councillor Sean McPeake Chair of Mid Ulster District Council meets with pupils from St. Patricks Primary School, Mullinahoe, Windmill Integrated Primary School, Dungannon, Niall Kerr, The Nerve Centre and Maybelline Gormley, Department for Communities at the animation project launch.

The comic books themselves will help to engage youth across the district in the arts activity while also interpreting understanding and heritage of the regions key sites for a young audience. Each site is managed by the Department of Communities who were involved in the process throughout. The project is joint funded by Mid Ulster District Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland through its Lottery- funded Local Government Challenge Fund.