Citywise Education

The principal objective of Citywise Education is ‘the advancement of education and the natural sciences among children and young adults with a special emphasis on those suffering social or economic disadvantage.’ This is distilled into our vision “improving communities through youth education’. Thus, the programmes we provide in underserved communities – to 8-21-year-olds – seek to raise the personal and educational aspirations of young people while supporting them to achieve their new goals. Our main activities are run in West Tallaght where we regularly support over 500 young people weekly, work with 15 local schools and serve over 1,200 different young people in an ongoing way. We have three core strands of programme, which operate on a personal membership basis (approx. 500) and through service provision to schools (approx. 1,200).

Strand 1 – Clubs and Leadership: These programmes offer attractive activities for young people which work to develop interests, increase confidence and instill a love of learning, while engaging individuals and their families from 8 years and up.

Strand 2 – STEAM: These programmes ensure young people learn new skills and develop relevant competencies, opening the possibility of future study and careers in these subject areas.

Strand 3 – Fast Track Academy: Fast Track Academy offers education and personal support to young people from underserved communities from primary school to third level education. This includes additional academic classes, study support, mentorship and workshops. This supports sees 80% of our final year FTA students progressing to third level education, in an area where less than 5% of the population hold a degree.

In short, Citywise helps young people raise their aspirations and offers them the support to achieve their new goals. We also run summer camps and special activity programmes all with an educational and personal development focus.