Legion Scotland has announced the winners of its 2014-15 Primary Schools competition.

In August 2014 Legion Scotland invited primary school children across Scotland to take part in a competition, to become First World War family history detectives. Pupils were asked to research and uncover real life stories of how the outbreak of World War One affected local families and communities. Primary school pupils from P5, P6 and P7 took up the challenge of investigating ‘what impact did the outbreak of war have on children and how do families remember this now?’

The competition asked schools, in pupil groups of ten, to enter 500 words and three photographs for the competition. Schools from all over Scotland took part. Ten schools were shortlisted, and placed online in a public vote which received thousands of votes. From the top three in the public vote, one winning school was picked by a celebrity panel including Scottish Government Veterans Secretary Keith Brown MSP, historian and broadcaster Trevor Royle, and a representative from the Co-operative Funeralcare – the schools competition sponsor.

The top three that went in front the of the judges were:
Annick Primary School in Irvine’s ‘A Friend of Age, a Guide of Youth’; Craighill Primary School in Tain’s ‘World War I Uncovered’; and Glasgow Academy’s ‘The Galbraith Legacy’.

Legion Scotland announced details of the winners on its website, and the story includes a link to the top-placed entry.

Congratulations to the overall winner, Annick Primary School, North Ayrshire. The team won a VIP trip to the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo this summer.

The judging panel was so impressed by the quality of entries that funding was found for a runner-up award, to a pupil team at Craighill Primary in Tain, Highlands, who win tickets and travel for a trip to the Tattoo.

A great effort by all concerned.