Scottish Catholic Observer

By Cristina Marini

A primary six team from St Leonard’s Primary School in East Kilbride took second place in the Scottish European Educational Trust’s national Euroquiz final at the Scottish Parliament on Monday, May 13.

During the school year, around 1300 pupils from 315 schools competed in the heats held across local authorities in order to secure a place in the grand final hosted by Elaine Smith MSP, the deputy presiding officer.

National event

The St Leonard’s team—Connie McEvoy, Chloe Smith, Julian Lyon and Darren Rankin (above)—competed against 29 other teams from throughout the country, from the Western Isles to Dumfries and Galloway. Although a fire evacuation delayed the final, the St Leonard’s pupils were still able to show their high level of knowledge of European countries, history, culture, current affairs and the EU.

St Leonard’s managed to keep a lead for the first three rounds of the final but Cradlehall in Inverness went on to narrowly beat  them in the final buzzer round. Kellans Academy from Inverurie took third place in the quiz after a tiebreak against Edinburgh’s Blackhall Primary School.

High praise

Des Timmons, St Leonard’s headteacher, said the school community is ‘very proud’ of the pupils’ achievement.

“The pupils did very well; I was amazed at the amount of time they put into researching topics,” Mr Timmons said. “The pupils got an awful lot out of taking part.”

The aim of Euroquiz is to develop young Scots’ knowledge of Europe and the European Union in a fun and interesting way.

“The year 2013 is the European Year of Citizens and I am delighted that the citizens of the future are learning so actively about their European neighbours and our shared European values and objectives,” Martin Schultz, president of the European Parliament, the main sponsor of the event, said.

Government support

The Scottish Government also supported the event this year, giving funds to allow a language section to take place. The pupils were tested on their knowledge of French, German, Spanish and Italian by being asked to show their understanding of basic phrases and questions in these foreign languages.

Mike Russell MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning said the event was a ‘wonderful way to learn about Europe and its rich history and culture,’ and said that it is ‘a great opportunity for young Scots to learn about Europe and Scotland’s place in it.’

—     This story ran in full in the June 21 print edition of the SCO