Shooting, Sport Results

Shooting

In an exciting end to their school holidays, 11 Union High School competitive shooters participated in their very first ‘big’ competition – the Eastern Province Open Championships – this past weekend.

The event, held at the Koedoeskloof shooting range in Uitenhage on Friday and Saturday, 29 and 30 March, transpired in cool, windy weather but saw the shooters deliver excellent scores nonetheless.

“It was a stress-filled day for all involved, but the learners gave it their best and we couldn’t be happier with the results they achieved,” said coach Christelle van Eck. “The learners were well-mannered, never complained and helped where ever they could, truly keeping the Union flag flying high.”

Amber Bezuidenhout, Angus McGlaggen, Michaela Price, Megan Putter, Lauren Waddelouw, Amy Waddelouw, Tessa James, Tammy James and Kelly-Page Scott competed in the Air Rifle Open Sight event, with Corniel Vorster competing in the Air Rifle Open Sight, Air Sport Pistol, Air Pistol Standing and Air Pistol Freestyle events and Schea Johnson competing in the Air Rifle Open Sight, Small Bore Rifle Light Open Sight and Small Bore Rifle Silhouette Open Sight events.

Bulletin

Welcome to the Union Team

Union High School is pleased to announce the appointment of Mariëtte Burger as the school’s new PR, Marketing & Fundraising Coordinator.

With a background in communications and journalism, Mariëtte’s role will be to key in helping shape and enhance the Union brand while continuing to develop our communications and marketing activities. We are excited to have her on board and believe she will be a great asset to our team. Mariëtte said that she is looking forward to immersing herself in the community and working with the Union staff.

Hockey, Sport Results

EP Hockey Trials

Congratulations to the following hockey players who have made it through to the next round of EP trails.
U/18:  Jenna McNaughton;  Micela Loock;  Sara Kingwill;  Sakhe Booi;  Laetitia Theron
U/16:  Chloe Shires
U/14:  Leah Marais;  Sonwabisa Mroro

Bulletin, Eco-Schools

Eco-Wise Day

Thursday, 14 April was Eco-wise day at Union and each grade spent time engaged in activities based on the theme of conservation of water and recycling. Our campus was abuzz with children filling up recycled bottles with rainwater for those in need; posters were made; desks refurbished; there was a trip to the dam where water and wetlands were discussed; the grade 7s walked to Mackie’s pit where our water comes from; stationery was upcycled; water filters made and a few even danced a happy holiday dance! We wish all our staff and learners a happy, restful holiday and please remember to save water wherever you can.

Rugby, Sport Results

U/16 Rugby – Westering Festival

On Thursday 14th March the u16A rugby squad left for Port Elizabeth to take part in the Westering co-ed festival. On Thursday we played a match against Andrew Rabie High School prior to the festival. With co-captain and pivot James Pienaar not available due to injury the reshuffle proved to be costly as we struggled to find our rhythm and we simply could not deal with the line speed of the opposition who put us under pressure throughout the match. Union lost the match 14-5.

On Thursday night we stayed at Muir College, checking out on Friday when we travelled to Port Elizabeth and had a training session on the beach. This the team thoroughly enjoyed and it gave the boys the opportunity to connect as a squad and good team spirit was established.
We had lunch at McDonalds and relaxed for a while the Boardwalk.

At 15h30 Union played their first match of the Co-ed festival against Grey High School invitational side. Union played a great game of rugby where they manned up and played their hearts out. With the game deadlocked at nineteen all, Grey’s fitness proved to be the difference. Union lost the match 38-24. The team than went for supper at Baywest Mall where they were spoiled for choice. On Friday night we stayed at Cape Recife. After a very long day the boys were happy to finally get in bed.

On Saturday morning we played our last fixture against Alexander Road. Union started in the worst possible manner and soon found themselves 19-0 behind. We then settled nicely into our pattern and after countless attacks we crossed the white wash twice to go into half time trailing 19-12. Union showed complete dominance in the second half running in 5 tries. It was entertaining and clinical. All the pieces of the puzzle were put together and one of the spectators said, “This has been the most entertaining and structured schoolboy rugby I have seen in a long time, an absolute pleasure to watch”.

Union won the match 45-19. The Union team were commended on their fine behaviour, good manners and the way in which they played their matches. As coaches myself and Mr Sparrius can definitely tick this off as a successful trip and also complement our boys of their good conduct and being fine ambassadors to our school.

I wish to express my sincere thanks to the staff of Muir College and Cape Recife who hosted the team over the two nights. A special word of thanks to our parents who supported us and assisted with washing playing kit and sponsoring energy drinks, the team greatly appreciate your commitment.
Grey High School invitational – Union lost the match 38-24

Bulletin, Hockey, Rugby

Senior Rugby and Hockey Festival

Our Senior Rugby and Hockey festival ended on a high note with a great win for our rugby boys. Our girls only lost 1 game during the tournament.

Thank you to our sports men and women for working so hard to provide spectators with such great entertainment!
Thank you to our coaches and managers who gave of their holiday time to be with our children.
Thank you to our parents and Old Unionites who supported them wholeheartedly and positively and who gave so much of their time to cook, cook and cater, sell drinks and provide sustenance.
Thank you to all past pupils who popped in for a visit.
Thank you to our ground staff who were up at sparrow’s each morning, who cleaned and watered and fetched and carried even with load shedding and water outages.
Thank you to our friendly and efficient kitchen staff who worked tirelessly from dawn to midnight.
Thank you to our wonderful boarding houses who accommodated so many without a complaint.
Thank you to our first aiders who were at the ready through each and every match.
Thank you to our media team who recorded and assisted with sound and video capturing.
Thank you to our ball boys and those learners who gave of their holiday time to to gate duty and who worked at the coffee stations.
Thank you to schools from neighboring towns who supported Union teams with such great spirit!
Thank you to our Sports Department who did so much for months to make this festival run so smoothly and effectively.
Thank you to our Union Team – together we achieve so much!

Results were as follows:

Rugby
Union vs Charlie Hofmeyer lost 12 – 28
Union vs Andrew Rabie won 43-0

Hockey
Union vs VG won 1 -0
Union vs Paarl Gim Inv won 2 – 0
Union vs Settlers won 3 – 0
Union vs Kingsridge lost 3 – 4
Brandwag withdrew against Union

Union Invitation vs Cradock won 1 – 0
Union Invitation vs Merrifield lost 2 – 3
Union Invitation vs Brandwag won 1 – 0
Union Invitation vs Stirling lost 0 – 4
Union Invitation vs Nico Malan lost 0 -2

Academic, Bulletin, Student Life

RCL Training – Global Leadership Consultants

On 13 March 2019 the RCL had a training session with Global Leadership Consultants.

There are not many things that warm the heart of an educator more than when a past pupil ploughs back into the very community which shaped him or her. This was what could be sensed when Luphumlo Joka conducted training with the Representative Council for Learners of Union High School at Profcon yesterday.

The vision of Global Leadership Consultants is to build authentic leaders to effectively change society generationally. The values of the company, excellence, integrity, passion, discipline and stewardship was really the golden thread throughout the session.

Global Leadership Consultants was officially started in 2015 by founder Luphumlo Joka whilst he was studying Law at Nelson Mandela University. GLC was birthed out of genuine love and passion for the development of organizations and high performance individuals.

The team specializes in strategic management and leadership development and business leadership support. Their competitive advantage is in their new approach to leadership development birthed by our young innovative team of professionals.

A fun-filled, jam-packed half day session addressing topics like the purpose of leaders, the ultimate leader-shift and the duty of authentic leadership was enjoyed by fifteen excited leaders. We are looking forward to see our leaders finding their purpose and expanding their sphere of influence even further.

We are grateful to Global Leadership Consultants for this invaluable experience which our Representative Council of Learners thoroughly enjoyed!