Students from Rainey Endowed School represent the United Kingdom in Euroscola at the European Parliament in Strasbourg

Students from Rainey Endowed School represent the United Kingdom in Euroscola at the European Parliament in Strasbourg

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Students from 21 European countries took the seats of EU politicians for one day

On Thursday 5th February, the third Euroscola day in 2015 was held at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Around 600 students and teachers from across the European Union’s member states were in Strasbourg. They came from Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom.

Each year Euroscola welcomes thousands of students aged between 16 to 18 years old from all 28 European Union Members States to spend a day in Strasbourg and work as Members of the European Parliament. The Euroscola day gives students the opportunity to interact and exchange information in a foreign language (English, French, Spanish or German) and also highlights the importance of cross-cultural cooperation. Furthermore, participants are given the possibility to introduce their school and the region where they come from, which provides greater diversity and enriches the cultural dialogue.

Just like the members of the European Parliament, the students worked in groups discussing and presenting on the following topics:
• Environment and Renewable Energy;
• 2015 – European Year for Development;
• The Future of Europe;
• Freedom of Information and Active Citizenship;
• Migration and Integration; and
• Youth Employment.

Participation is awarded to schools through winning a national competition organized by the European Parliament Office in each Member State. Successful candidates get an important subsidy towards the cost of their journey to Strasbourg. To be able to take an active part, the students prepare themselves in their schools from months ahead and come to Strasbourg already acquainted with the issues up for discussion.

Rainey Endowed School was one of three N Ireland winners representing the UK, and were joined by St Killian’s College (Carnlough) and St Mary’s Grammar School (Magherafelt). The 8 successful students from the Rainey who travelled to Strasbourg were Ciara Mains, Cathy Parke, Cara Sloan, Rachel Stewart, Andrew Conway, Jonathan Douglas, Callum Gilfillan and Connor Stobo. They were accompanied by their teachers Mr C McDonnell and Miss A Thompson.