ST MARY’S Primary School won the Scottish European Educational Trust’s (SEET) National Euroquiz Final on Monday.

The competition took place in the debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament and aims to promote language learning, skills development and education about Europe and the wider world to Scotland’s young people.

The project sees events take place locally at first, with every authority hosting their own heat before progressing to the national grand final.

More than 470 schools from across Scotland took part in Euroquiz heats from January to March, involving more than 2,300 pupils overall.

The winning teams from each of the 31 participating local authority areas travelled from far and wide to attend the national final at the Scottish Parliament, all hoping to raise the trophy as winners.

Pupils form teams and use free resources to learn about a series of topics including citizenship, democracy, geography, world history, culture and languages.

Organisers said participating in Euroquiz deepens their knowledge of international affairs, but also gives the opportunity to develop team building, confidence, language and communication skills.

The finalists were put through their paces by the quizmaster, deputy presiding officer Christine Grahame MSP and Külli Nurk from the Office of the European Commission in Scotland.

Ms Grahame said: “It’s been a pleasure to welcome so many passionate and talented young people to the debating chamber floor – especially in what is Scotland’s Year of Young People – a time for our young people to truly shine.

“Learning about Scotland’s place in the world and our multicultural society is incredibly important, and I would like to congratulate all of the pupils for their hard work in competing in the grand final.”

Meanwhile Clydebank MSP Gil Paterson, who presented the prizes, said: “I’ve helped and supported the Scottish European Educational Trust for many years – they are a fantastic organisation who do brilliant work with children.

“I was delighted to be asked to present the prizes to the winning teams. A great experience was made all the more memorable as the winning team was from a school I know so well.

“It was great to be able to witness their brilliant performance in person – they did Duntocher proud. Well done to children in the team and also to their parents and teachers.”