dabbledoo

The Challenge

dabbledoo’s mission is to transform arts education in primary schools across Ireland, making music, art, and drama accessible, engaging, and fun for students and teachers alike. Through their online platform, they offer interactive resources and lessons that empower teachers to bring the joy of the arts into the classroom, regardless of their background in music, art, or drama.

As their reach has expanded, they wanted to not only deliver great lessons but also measure the long-term impact they were having on students, teachers, and schools. This includes recognising the importance of teachers and student feedback to improve lessons and to create new content each year.

dabbledo asked NPC to help them with measuring impact.

The Approach

The work focused on developing a theory of change and a custom-built impact dashboard.

The theory of change provides a framework to look at long-term goals and aspirations and to connect them to everyday processes and work. For dabbledoo, this connected day-to-day activities, like weekly lessons, with the broader outcomes they aim to foster like enhanced creativity, increased self-confidence, empathy and improved teamwork among students.

The Theory of Change clarified how each step in the programme leads to educational outcomes across three main areas:

1. Engaging Weekly Arts Lessons: Weekly lessons in music, art, and drama are the cornerstone of the programme. These lessons are designed to be engaging and accessible, using visual guides, animations, and collaborative exercises to bring each subject to life.
2. Building Confidence, Empathy Creativity: Through consistent exposure to creative activities, dabbledoo aim to nurture students’ confidence and creativity. Lessons provide a platform for self-expression, enabling students to explore and refine their unique voices in music, art, and drama while helping them to understand and appreciate the voices of others.
3. Achieving Long-Term Impact: Ultimately, dabbledoo aim to inspire a lifelong appreciation for, and enjoyment of, the arts while fostering essential skills like creative problem-solving, collaboration, and emotional expression – all of which benefit students across their academic journeys and beyond.

Dabbledoo also needed a way to track progress in real time. NPC worked with them to develop a custom impact dashboard that measures key metrics across the schools in the programme, such as:

• Student Engagement: How actively are students participating in weekly lessons? Are they enthusiastic and engaged in music, art, and drama activities?
• Teacher Feedback: Are teachers finding the lessons accessible and manageable? Do they feel supported in delivering high-quality arts education?
• Long-Term Outcomes: Is there sustained improvements in students’ creativity, confidence, and collaboration skills over time?

This feedback is collected through a combination of teachers surveys and weekly lesson satisfaction scores.

The Result

Research shows that frequent, ongoing exposure to the arts is essential for developing both creative skills and a love for the subject. dabbledoo lessons are designed to be hands-on, encouraging students to actively participate and collaborate – whether they’re exploring rhythm and melody in music, experimenting with colour and form in art, or understanding relationship through drama.

For teachers, these lessons provide a user-friendly, structured approach to arts education that doesn’t require a specialist background. By maintaining regular engagement, dabbledoo are not only helping students build skills in each discipline but also support the development of critical thinking, empathy, communication, and problem-solving.

The theory of change and impact dashboard are helping dabbledoo evaluate the impact of their programme, helping them make informed adjustments and ultimately deliver an even more impactful arts education experience for students across Ireland.

Our vision is to make arts education a joyful, integral part of every child’s school experience, nurturing skills and creativity that will stay with them for life. As we scale, we’re confident that our data-driven approach will allow us to deepen our impact and continue improving our methods based on real-world feedback. Through our partnership with NPC, we’re not only delivering engaging weekly lessons but also laying a foundation for lasting, positive change in how music, art, and drama are taught and experienced in Irish schools.

Shane Mc Kenna, founder and CEO