By Michelle Crean

It seems that local children are having a blast at school this week as they learned all about a bird's journey from a Kerry artist.

It was all part of a seven week BLASTArts in Education Residency programme for the Junior, Senior Infant and First and Second Class pupils in Kilgobnet National School.

"We were delighted to have been awarded a fully funded 20-hour BLAST Artist in Residency opportunity via the new BLAST Arts in Education Residency Programme 2021/2022," Teacher Úna White told the Killarney Advertiser.

The BLAST Arts in Education Residency application, which is funded by the Department of Education, is supported by the ESCI Education Centre network.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for our school to engage in a fully funded Artist in Residence with an artist who has been previously trained in partnership working with teachers in school settings. So far the artist Silke Michels from Lispole has been working with our Infant Class in an ongoing approach to enhance the integration of the arts and creativity in education," she said.

"The theme we worked on was winter where the children explored the journey the swallow bird takes every winter from Ireland to Africa. Initially the children looked at maps and drew the journey using marker pens and crayons. Then they did paint prints of swallows and the landscapes that they flew over. Finally, they assembled these prints to create a map showing the journey the swallows took. The children have really enjoyed the experience."