Lewis Mcpartlin | Reporter
On the 21st of September 2017 a group of second year students embarked upon a trip to the Scottish Parliament Offices. The purpose of the Visit was to view the BBC ‘s animation, illustrating pupils’ ideas of how the world will be in 50 years time. St Andrews and St Brides was chosen to attend along with Glasgow Gaelic school, due to the high quality of ideas contributed by the pupils at both schools.
The Parliament building design and architecture was simply a feat of genius, with the concrete, wood and glass – all very simple materials – merging into something beautiful. The debating chamber was unique and modern in its style. The room was in a semi-circle shape in the hope that this would not make debating as fierce when arguing with their adversaries.
Following the tour of the parliament building, the children were given the opportunity to sit in on First Minister’s questions where we viewed politicians at their rowdiest while debating with the First Minister.
Once the trip to the debating chamber was over, pupils from both schools met special guests Christina Mckelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Professor Sethu Vijayakumar FRSE from the University of Edinburgh and presenter of well-known TV show Robot Wars, and Allan Lindsay from Young Scot. Together we watched the animation produced by the BBC which was a compilation of ideas put together by schools from all over country. We then discussed the likelihood of our ideas becoming a reality and how we would feel about this, and the affect it will have on the world around us.
It’s not every day you get the opportunity to experience a Scottish Parliament debate, the visit was both fun and educational and we would all wholeheartedly recommend a visit if you ever get the chance.
