Year: 2023

The power of words, intonation and body language was unleashed during Union High School, Graaff-Reinet’s annual 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗘𝗖𝗛 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡.

Eleven speakers were brave enough to enter and certainly impressed the audience and adjudicators alike with excellent speeches.

We extend our grateful thanks to Grade 12 learner Anna Pringle for ensuring the smooth running of the programme.

𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 to 𝗝𝗼𝘆 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱, who claimed third place, the evening’s runner-up 𝗖𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲, whose intelligent approach and good preparation served her well, and the overall winner 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲 𝗢𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗳𝘀𝗲𝗻, who performed with confidence and flair.

𝗢𝘂𝘁𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Union High School, Graaff-Reinet’s annual Junior Speech Competition was held on Monday evening, 8 May, in the Tony Burrell Union.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳’𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭’𝘴 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 8𝘴, 9𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 10𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵-𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘮𝘴.

Congratulations to all those who participated. They are: Amber Slater, Kazimla Mbalawa, Ben Lemke, Jamae-Mari Davids, Athayanda Mahlati, Bhukobenkosi Nomatye, Erin Gedult, Sinegugu Ntenteni, Cruz Pather and Someleze Ntshuca.

With speeches ranging from humorous to emotional, intellectual and serious, all who attended were captivated by the speakers and very impressed by the high quality of speeches and the obvious preparation that had gone into the evening.

𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙙 – it was pleasing to see so many enthusiastic learners presenting their speeches.

Congratulations to 𝗘𝗿𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝘁 (Grade 10) and 𝗕𝗲𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗺𝗸𝗲 (Grade 9) who – based on their performance – were selected to represent the school at this year’s Interschools’ speech competition later this year.

As a part of vocational guidance, the Grade 12s enjoyed a dedicated 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞 this past week, during which they were engaged with potential career paths and opportunities.

Private Institutions including Eduvos, CTU, Varsity College and Uxi Sport all gave informative talks on study options after matric.

𝘖𝘯 𝘞𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘔𝘳 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘓𝘦𝘮𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘳 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘛𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘺 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 12𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘢 𝘍𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮.

The Grade 12s gathered again in the evening where local business-people spoke from the heart about life after school.

Mr Kallie Venter gifted the grade with a fascinating talk on Memory Pegs; Dawid and Karlien de Wet enlightened the group about the highs and lows of entrepreneurship; Mr Gerrar Maya gave a frank and amusing talk on becoming a chartered accountant and it was lovely to have Mr Hannes Lombard back at Union as he informed the grade about his journey into the insurance world.

Everyone enjoyed a convivial meal afterwards and worked as a team assisting Mrs Bronwen Langmead with the meal which was graciously cooked by our boarding house staff.

𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧’𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙚 12𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙜𝙤 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨!

Visit our Facebook Page to view photographs of the event.

𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘴!

For more information visit our Admission Policy Page on our website.

𝗔 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Union High School, Graaff-Reinet’s 2023 primary department production, saw the 2010 box office hit, Tangled, translated to the stage for the purposes of delighting local theatre lovers!

The narrative was, for the most part, identical. Snatched from her royal bed at birth, Rapunzel goes about her days locked in a forgotten tower under the ever-watchful eye of the evil Mother Gothel. Seizing her chance to escape with the bandit Flynn Rider, Rapunzel embarks on an adventure to see the lanterns that fill the sky on her birthday each year and discover her past in the process.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺’𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀 such as Imagine Dragons’ ‘On Top of the World’, Whitney Houston’s ‘When You Believe’ and Coldplay’s ‘Sky Full of Stars’ which were performed with such unmistakable Disney flair by the school’s junior learners that they felt instantly at home amidst fan-favourites such as ‘I’ve Got a Dream’ and ‘I See the Light.’

The catchy numbers, combined with stunning costumes and beautiful backdrops created an atmosphere that managed to fully immerse the audience in the story.

While Rachel Wenham and Connor Te Water Naude each gave 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙍𝙖𝙥𝙪𝙣𝙯𝙚𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙍𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙤𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙯𝙯, the comedic talents of Aidan Ferreira, who portrayed the detective Maximus, and the vocal talents of Chloe-Ann Fourie as Mother Gothel, made it impossible not to smile at the learners’ keen sense of belonging to the magical world so well-depicted on stage.

With a cast consisting of almost 180 Grade 5 to 7 learners, Union’s ‘Tangled’ was a high-jinx, humorous, entertaining, and superb show all round – full of fun and the feel-good factor.

𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 the show’s creators Mrs Avrille Putter and Mrs Sanette Brink, backdrop artists Mrs Janet Kingwill and Miss Lauren Stanley, the technical crew and the members of the cast who made it possible for us to “see the light” with a production that lives up to the near-impossible standards of the phrase 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤.

𝗣𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸: https://theunionschools.pixieset.com/tangledamusical/