The grand final of Euroquiz, sponsored by Standard Life, took place at the Scottish Parliament today. Thirty-one teams of primary six pupils from schools all over Scotland took part along with a school from Frankfurt, Germany and one from County Kildare, Ireland.
This year's overall winners were Scoil Na Mainistreach from Ireland who finished ahead of St Mary's School, Duntocher in a head-to-head round which marked the climax of the competition.
Euroquiz develops children's knowledge of Europe and the European Union (EU). The final consisted of three rounds of 20 questions followed by a fourth round with the two top-scoring schools. The questions ranged from capital cities of European countries to more in-depth questions about EU legislation.
The event, organised by the Scottish European Education Trust, has been running for four years in total and the heats for Euroquiz 2009 began in August last year. The heats involved over 1200 pupils and 300 schools in Scotland and the winning team from each district took part in the grand final in the Debating Chamber of the Scottish Parliament today.
Morgan Conroy, a pupil from the winning school said: "We have really enjoyed ourselves in the parliament today. It's our first time in Edinburgh and we really like the city. We found some of the questions tougher than expected but a few were quite easy. The best part of the day was winning our trophy and getting our electronic globe presented to us."
Aiden Young from runners up St Mary's School said: "It was nervewracking at first but once we got into the questions we were fine. We enjoyed getting to the final most throughout the day. We have been staying on after school every Wednesday to prepare and our Mum's and Dad's have been quizzing us too."
Many senior public figures attended the event with Deputy Presiding Officer, Alasdair Morgan MSP acting as quizmaster throughout the day. Standard Life Board Director Crawford Gillies and Keith Brown MSP, Minister for Schools and Skills were speakers at the event.
Barbara McLeod, National Organiser of SEET said: We estimate that awareness of Europe has increased among 15,000 young people and their families since we began running this event. And we know that teachers have found the Euroquiz to be an excellent source for lesson plans and materials."
Crawford Gillies, a Standard Life Board Director added: "Standard Life is very proud to sponsor Euroquiz. We've been working in partnership with the Scottish European Educational Trust for the last four years and it has been fantastic to see the competition grow each year. It has gone from strength to strength. This year was particularly special as our German and Irish counterparts got involved too. It's fantastic to see so many young children learning so much about Europe and the EU."
Deputy Presiding Officer, Alasdair Morgan MSP said: "I am delighted to be chairing the final of Euroquiz. With the European elections taking place in just under one month's time, the Euroquiz presents an excellent opportunity for young people in Scotland to learn more about our European neighbours."
Lucy Coyle
Public Relations Consultant
Direct: 0131 245 8958
Mobile: 0773 497 4252
Email: lucy_coyle@standardlife.com