Should Scotland be an independent country? Est-ce que L'Ecosse devrait être un pays indépendant? Sollte Schottland ein unabhängiges Land sein? Dovrebbe la Scozia essere indipendente?

Organisation Each member of Comenius was divided between the Yes campaign, the No campaign and the Management group The Yes Campaign and No Campaign had to research information about their arguments and then create a campaign for each side. The Management team had to co-ordinate and organise all the Comenius events, including assemblies, debates and publicity.

The Debate Monday 30th of September All 5th & 6th Years Attended There were two speakers for the Yes Campaign and the No campaign from S5/6 who felt passionately about the referendum. Each representative spoke for three minutes, followed by questions from fellow speakers and the audience. The Debate was filmed and shown in 1st – 4th year classes.

Preparation for the Referendum We first presented at assemblies explaining about Comenius, and how we had decided to hold an in- school independence referendum. It was explained who was involved and how pupils themselves could get involved. We researched each side of the Independence referendum and presented this information on posters, at assemblies and to classes so that they could make an informed choice. As well as the main debate for the seniors, there was also an optional lunchtime debate where younger pupils could learn more about the Independence issue. There were various opinion polls carried out in the weeks leading up to the referendum, in order to see how people were planning to vote. There was lots of press and media coverage about the work the Comenius team were doing; spreading awareness about the Independence Referendum and getting young people involved.

Main Issues Raised No Campaign  We will no longer be a part the European Union and will have to re-apply.  It will take a long time to set up Scottish Embassies around the world.  Scotland will not receive the Block Grant – £30 billion – from Westminster  Why risk the stable economy we already have? Yes Campaign We would have a stable economy - Tourism, Oil, Renewable Energy, Trading, GDP We are currently run by a government (conservative) we DID NOT vote for. Able to make decisions to suit our economy and our needs Scotland is the 8th wealthiest Country in the world, per capita, but the UK as a whole is 17th

The Day of the Referendum 10th October Entire school had a vote (S1- 6 and Teachers, Staff) The voting slip had the question “Should Scotland be an independent country?” With a choice to tick either 'yes' or 'no' Each class had an allocated time to go for each pupil to put their vote in. The votes were counted at the end of the day after all votes had been taken. The results were read out at the end of the day for the whole school to hear.

The Results The votes were counted, and it was revealed that overall the school had voted 'No' to Independence. There was a turnout of 900 voters – 91 percent of pupils and staff. There were 284 'yes' votes. Making up 31.6 percent of votes. There were 602 'no' votes. Making up 66.9 percent of votes. 1.5 percent (14) votes were invalid.

Thank you all for listening! Merci de votre attention! Gracie per l’ascolto! Danke für eure Aufmerksamkeit!