Linlithgow Academy pupils shining bright

Pupils from Linlithgow Academy were named as finalists in the Young Enterprise Scotland’s Peroosh People’s Choice Award.

A team of pupils from Linlithgow Academy have made the final of a national enterprise competition.

The school’s Young Enterprise group and their company Tartan Texts were named as finalists in the Young Enterprise Scotland’s Peroosh People’s Choice Award.

The team made up of Aidan Murphy, Holly Mayland, Oscar Milne, Callum Ireland, Tom Lawrence, Ciara Benson and Rhianwen Hopwood, progressed to the national final after they won the Lothian Regional final after their team wrote, illustrated, marketed and sold their original children’s storybook Harris the Haggis: Adventures in Edinburgh.

Aiming to encourage children to read and improve their literacy, they sought to achieve this by writing a simple, engaging and light-hearted story which follows the adventures of an iconic Scottish character.

Much like Harris, their journey has been long and exciting, visiting multiple primary schools and playgroups, engaging in community support and even partnering with VisitScotland to get Harris into the hands and hearts of as many young people as possible.

Their regional win means this is the second year running that Linlithgow Academy has a team in the national
final.

Linlithgow Academy’s head teacher Karen Jarvis said: “Everyone at Linlithgow Academy is delighted for Tartan Texts. Their original idea has proven to be a hit and as well as highlighting their creative flair, it has also demonstrated the pupils incredible maturity, adaptability and team work in order to make this concept a success.

“As a group they have dedicated a lot of time to this project and hopefully plenty of people recognise this and vote for their
product.”

Executive councillor for education David Dodds said: “This is a fantastic achievement. The pupils have shown exemplary commitment and ingenuity to create a successful product.

“They should be extremely proud of what they have achieved so far and I wish them the best of luck in the final of the
competition.”

Tartan Texts will now be one of 15 regional winners from across Scotland to compete for the title of Scottish Company of the Year at a virtual event on Tuesday.

As well as claiming the national title, the winners will have the honour to represent Scotland virtually at the UK finals on Wednesday, June 17.

To cast your vote for Tartan Texts and read more about their work, visit https://yes.org.uk/competitions