Word Warriors
An after-school creative writing programme for primary school students at locations across Dublin!
What is Word Warriors?
Word Warriors is an after-school creative writing programme for children aged 10 to 12. It was first created in partnership with City Connects and Dublin City Council's North East Inner City initiative in 2022 offering the opportunity to be creative and explore story making over an extended period to children who might not otherwise have this experience.
Since then, Fighting Words has expanded the Word Warriors programme across Dublin and it is now also running in Tallaght and the Liberties. Each Word Warriors programme runs for six to eight consecutive weeks, during which the participants come together once a week to work on their own stories and creative work.
With the mission of offering opportunities to young people who might not otherwise have access to creative activities and the arts, DEIS schools are our priority for this project, though other primary schools in close proximity to a Word Warriors club are also offered the chance to take part in the programme.
What do our Word Warriors do?
At Word Warriors, participants come together to create their own written work, whether it is a story, script, song, graphic fiction or poetry. We start our workshop off by playing games to get our creative juices flowing; one of our main objectives is for the Warriors to be having fun.
When everyone is warmed up, the young writers start on their own creative work. Participants can write about anything they like, making for a very diverse collection of stories at the end of the programme. After six to eight weeks, each child will have been encouraged and supported to challenge themselves and create something they can be proud of.
The programme is totally free for participants and, as with everything we do, the emphasis is on fun, participation and confidence building. You can read some of the wonderful work that our Word Warriors have completed here.
Where is it run and what schools participate?
Word Warriors takes place at the Fighting Words writing centre in Behan Square, in Citywise Education, Jobstown, Tallaght and in Kevin Street Library.
Schools participating in Word Warriors Behan Square:
- O'Connell's Boys Primary School
- St. Vincent’s Girls
- Rutland National School
- Scoil Chaomhín
- St. Laurence O'Toole's NS
- Central Model Senior School
- Gardiner Street Primary School
Schools participating in Word Warriors at Citywise Education Centre, Jobstown:
- St. Aidan’s Senior National School
- St. Thomas’ Senior National School
- Tallaght Community National School
- Scoil Aoife Community National School
Schools participating in Word Warriors at Kevin Street Library:
- Griffith Barracks Multi-Denominational School
- Presentation Primary School, Warrenmount
- Scoil Treasa Naofa
- South City Community National School
- St. Brigid's Primary School, The Coombe
Places are allocated per school and staff members at participating schools offer spots to interested students.
Interested in finding out more about Word Warriors?
If you are a parent whose child is in 4th, 5th or 6th class at one of the above schools and you think they would enjoy Word Warriors, please speak to the Home School Liaison (HSCL) officer or any teacher in your school.
Fighting Words delivers Word Warriors thanks to the generous support of the Amazon Literary Partnership, Rethink Ireland, basis.point and Dublin North East Inner City through the City Connects programme.
