Congratulations to the following Union High School swimmers who have been selected for the Karoo team that will be participating at the Inter-Districts Gala in Grahamstown on Thursday, 5 March:
Grace Kemp, Brogan Koeberg, Callum Jacobs, Daisy Sears, Matthew Paxton, Hayden Pienaar and Daniel Marais.
Every year, a representative of each class at Union High School is chosen to serve as Eco Representative.
These enthusiastic environmentally-minded learners are then tasked with raising awareness about ecological issues, encouraging environmentally responsible behaviour among their peers and planning related events and activities at the school.
Union’s 18 Eco-Reps for 2020 were announced and presented with their badges at Assembly this morning.
Congratulations to all those chosen to serve this year, they are:
Grade 5: Jordan Koeberg and Zoë Liesing
Grade 6: Rebecca Copeman and Ashleigh Shell
Grade 7: Tara Ferreira and Erin Gedult
Grade 8: Caytah-Leigh Koeberg (absent) and Imitha Nkwintya
Grade 9: Lwanda Ntlonti, Kaitlin Kenmuir and Precious Nobula
Grade 10: Tessa James, Sisipho Arnols and Liyabona Binqela
Grade 11: Primrose Mutapati and Tanya Mataba (absent)
Grade 12: Juandre Jaftha and Erin O’Halloran
The new Eco-Reps are seen here with the teacher in charge of this initiative, Mrs Danelle Botes.
May they inspire all to actively engage in practices of energy conservation, water conservation, waste reduction, reuse, recycling and environmentally preferable purchasing!
Monday afternoon, 24 February, saw Union’s Top 6 junior tennis players competing against their Gill Primary School counterparts on Union’s courts.
The girls won their encounter 6 – 2, while the boys were also victorious, with an end result of 6 – 3.
Well done to all concerned!
A number of Union swimmers competed at the annual Karoo Gala held at Hoër Volkskool on Tuesday, 25 February.
Schools who attended included Gill, Cradock, Volkskool, Marlow as well a large group of Homeschoolers.
The high standard of swimming at this event continues to amaze and the positive competition between the schools and individual swimmers is a pleasure to witness.
As always, competition was fierce in all events – 104 in total – but Union’s swimmers never gave in, giving their best in all their races.
The day’s climax saw all age groups racing in relays. It was an incredibly close competition and thoroughly enjoyable to watch as a spectator.
The school proudly placed a close second in both the primary and high school sections.
Special congratulations go to Matthew Paxton who shared the ‘Victor Ludorum’ award with Laer Volkskool’s Aidan Thiart in the primary school section.
We are so very proud of all our swimmers who committed and gave of their time to swim for their school and thank them for their stellar efforts.
On Thursday, 20 February, Union’s junior cricketers played their first-ever declaration match against the Frans Conradie Primary School.
After winning the toss, the hot and sunny weather motivated the Union boys to bat first. The opening batsmen started the innings cautiously, but managed to get the team off to a solid start.
The middle overs, unfortunately, proved to be their downfall with the loss of several quick wickets.
Captain Shaakir Kazi’s performance with the bat then proved to be pivotal, as his 50* settled the downfall, allowing the Union team to retire on 119/9.
Inspired to deliver a stellar performance, Union’s bowlers managed to take a quick three wickets in the first three overs.
Frans Conradie’s batsmen, however, settled in well after that and managed to score freely after the first bowling change.
Union fought back through brilliant bowling from Yaseen Kazi, ending the day’s play with Frans Conradie on 100/9.
• Due to rain, this match could, unfortunately, not be completed.
Union would like to commend the Frans Conradie team for the lovely way in which they played the match and for traveling to our beautiful school once again.
To mark the Union Schools’ 100th year, a time capsule was recently buried on campus, leaving a gift for future generations to unearth.
The capsule, which is to be opened in 50 years, is laden with memorabilia of the school’s 100th birthday celebrations – among other items – and it is hoped that it will provide future generations with the opportunity to see what life was like at the school today.
The time capsule was placed in the ground by the school’s principal, Mr William Pringle and the Headgirl and Headboy, Sakhe Booi and Bowen Langmead.
The space that was chosen lies beneath the Centenary Arch and is marked by a special plaque for all to see.
While many of the school’s birthday celebrations during last year were about looking back at the impressive history of the school, the burial of this time capsule served as a time for reflection on the future direction of the school and its journey towards success.
Several Union youngsters took on the 96th River Mile at the Sundays River Cannonville Slipway this past Sunday morning, 23 February, joining hundreds of other swimmers who competed in this year’s edition of Africa’s oldest open-water swimming event.
• Seven Unionites were among the 200 participants in the Men’s River Mile.
Mack Rubidge, who finished in a time of 21 minutes, was Union’s first swimmer to cross the finish line. He was followed by Luc Railton, who finished the race in 22 minutes.
Hugo Botha – who’s only 13-years-old – then crossed the finish line in a time of 23 minutes, ending 16th overall out of the 53 competitors in his respective age group.
Schea Johnson came in next, followed by James Potgieter, Matthew Davenport and Max Price.
Well done to Luc, Hugo, Matthew and Max for an excellent show during their very first River Mile!
• In the Ladies’ River Mile, Union had nine swimmers entered among the 169 participants – two of whom, Tyra Binney and Melissa Swart, were competing in the event for the very first time.
Hannah Bodenstein, who finished in a time of 24 minutes, was the first Unionite to cross the finish line.
Amber Binney came in hot on her heels, also finishing in the 24th minute.
Both Hannah and Amber finished in the race’s Top 40, coming 14th and 15th respectively out of the 56 competitors in the 15 to 29-year-old category.
Kendall Krige was next to finish, followed by Jade Shires, Tyra Binney, Melissa Swart, Brigette Oelofsen, Elia Railton and Kelly-Paige Scott.
The school was very proud to have a large group of swimmers representing Union at this year’s event, even more so of the many ‘newbies’ who entered the event this year.
Of course, a River Mile outing wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Nanaga Farm Stall, where the learners and accompanying members of staff enjoyed the tasty home-made pies and roosterkoek on offer, before hitting the long road home.
Due to the overwhelming demand for accommodation for the 2020 Stoep Tasting Wine Weekend, Union High School has made Arthur Kingwill House, one of the school’s boarding establishments, available for the weekend.
Single rooms, sharing rooms and dormitories (for group bookings) are available.
Anyone planning on visiting Graaff-Reinet for Stoep Tasting 2020 over the weekend of 29 to 31 May, are urged to contact Mrs Lyn Rose-Innes via WhatsApp at 082 572 2194 or by e-mail at roseinnes@intekom.co.za as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
It was with much anticipation that Union High School’s Grade 9 learners arrived at school on Wednesday morning, 19 February.
It was their turn to participate in the Interact Club’s ‘Love Sandwiches’ project, so they arrived at school bright and early with all their necessary sandwich-making supplies in hand and – most importantly – a can-do attitude!
The learners, who were challenged to make as many sandwiches as possible in an hour’s time for Graaff-Reinet’s impoverished residents, managed to set a new record of 743 sandwiches!
Since its inception at the start of the term, the Interact Club watched with amazement as their project gained momentum with more and more sandwiches being delivered by the school’s respective grades each week.
“We are so proud of all our learners, teachers and parents for supporting this project so wholeheartedly,” said the Interact Club’s Teacher-in-Charge, Mrs Abigail Gedult.
The 743 sandwiches were delivered that same afternoon to the Camdeboo Hospice, the Umasizakhe and Horseshoe Clinics as well as the Khanyisa Day Care Centre.
“It was truly overwhelming for our Interact members to see the joy on every recipient’s face when they delivered the sandwiches,” concluded Mrs Gedult.
• Click on the following link to find out more about this project: http://bit.ly/LoveSandwiches
Last week, during their Creative Arts lesson, Union High School’s Grade 9s participated in a Performing Arts workshop, facilitated by Mrs Paula Kingwill.
This workshop was aimed at teaching the learners about improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv.
During their session with Mrs Kingwill, the learners were taught about connecting the art of improv with the adventure of everyday living, personal growth and creativity (with frequent bursts of laughter, of course).
They were also taught about different dramatic techniques, taking on a new character and lifting each other up as a group.
An inspirational and uplifting time was had by all and Union looks forward to the improvisations they will create as a part of their upcoming assessment.