Kids so close to quiz crown

Strathblane Primary School is celebrating after coming second in a search to find the best quiz team among Scotland’s schools.

The team was pipped by St Mary’s Primary School from West Dunbartonshire for the Scottish European Educational Trust Euroquiz Champions title in a nailbiting final round at the national final.

Euroquiz promotes language learning, skills development and education about Europe and the wider world to young people across Scotland.

The project sees events take place in every local authority area before progressing to the national final.

Over 470 schools from across Scotland took part in heats from January to March, involving more than 2300 pupils.

The winning teams from each of the 31 participating local authority areas travelled to the national final at the Scottish Parliament.

Questions in the final were posed by deputy presiding officer Christine Grahame and Külli Nurk from the Office of the European Commission in Scotland.

Pupils were cheered on by parents and peers in the public gallery and remotely, with many schools tuning in to watch the live broadcast of the event. The Strathblane pupils’ class teacher Laura McCormick said: “I am very proud of the pupils who took part in the Euroquiz competition. Their effort and knowledge about Europe were outstanding and they are delighted with their achievement.”

Euroquiz started in 1993 as a small quiz for Edinburgh schools and has now grown to be a Scotland-wide event., Pupils form teams and use free resources to learn about a series of topics including citizenship, democracy, geography, world history, culture and languages.

Through participating in Euroquiz, pupils deepen their knowledge of international affairs, but also have the opportunity to develop team building, confidence, language and communication skills.

* A picture of the successful Strathblane team will be featured in next Friday’s Observer.