Bulletin, Student Life

Learner Leaders Improving Together

“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The members of Union High School’s RCL (Representative Council of Learners) share a dream of inspiring the youth of Graaff-Reinet.  In pursuit of this dream, the RCL invited the leaders of Union’s neighbouring schools (the Asherville, Nqweba and Spandau secondary schools as well as Hoër Volkskool) to enjoy a fun-filled evening together.

This event – the first of its kind to be held by the schools ever – will hopefully pave the way for regular engagements of this nature in future.

The evening started with an inspirational message on the important distinctions between managing and leading people delivered by pastor Dolan Cochrane. He shared some powerful information about the influence of leaders with the group, keeping the learners thoroughly engaged throughout the whole session.

Union’s Head Boy, Peter Watermeyer, then shared the idea behind the evening with all those present, and in so doing, portrayed true leadership as defined by John Quincy Adams, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader”.

Zintle Maki, head prefect of Union’s Herby Arnott House, then led various activities in a very professional manner.

This evening was not only a celebration of youth leadership but also served as an amazing team building opportunity.

Thanks are extended to all the leaders and the educators who accompanied them for participating in the evening’s programme.

Rugby, Sport Results

Jnr Rugby Results – UHS vs Adelaide

On Saturday, 27 April, Union’s junior rugby teams travelled to Adelaide for their first away fixture of the second term.  All the teams played to the best of their ability and managed to record positive results

The u/9B team won 27 – 15, the U/9A team lost 0 – 24, the U/11As won 27 – 5 and the U/13Bs won 32 – 12.

The u/13A rugby team played a challenging match against a strong Adelaide team. The game was played at a frantic pace with both teams playing exiting rugby.  Union’s boys managed to stick to their game plan, keeping the ball alive for numerous phases.  Continuous pressure on their opponents led to some brilliant team tries, with Union coming out the victors with a final score of 34 – 0.

Bulletin, Eco-Schools

Eco Club Members Attend to Local Nursery

The members of Union High School’s Eco Club recently paid a visit to the Camdeboo National Park.  During the visit, the learners only had one goal in mind – to clean and revamp the small plant nursery located in the park.

Upon arrival, the learners were divided into three teams – one cleaned the garden shed while the other two each cleaned a seedling structure.  This involved weeding, raking, sorting litter and organic materials for discarding or re-use, cleaning, dusting and a lot of organising.  The groups worked hard and laughed a lot while getting down and dirty – giving new life to the nursery.

The group will return to the park soon to start planting new plants.

• This activity formed part of the Biodiversity theme of Union’s Eco-Schools project.