Bulletin, Cultural

Food For Thought

It doesn’t take much to make a sandwich. But sandwiches are all it takes to help feed the hungry in our community.

On Wednesday, 29 January, Union High School’s Interact Club launched their long-anticipated ‘Love Sandwiches’ project.

This ongoing project will see the learners of the respective grades at Union compete to see who can make the most sandwiches in aid of this initiative.

In Wednesday’s register class period, sixty sandwiches were made by a group of eager Grade 12 learners who supported this project by donating the required items, making the sandwiches and wrapping them up to go.

This first batch of sandwiches was delivered on Wednesday afternoon to the soup kitchen at the East Street Congregational Church.

The convenor of the soup kitchen’s committee, Mrs Minah Koetaan, expressed her grateful thanks towards the Union learners for their donation.

Union High School extends its thanks to the Grade 12s and their register class teachers, Mrs Cathy Pringle and Mr Christopher Felix, for assisting them in this endeavour.

We look forward to seeing what the other grades deliver!

Sport Results

Jnr Cricket Results vs LVS

Union’s u/13A cricketers were all smiles after a great afternoon of cricket against their local rivals, Laer Volkskool.  The T20 match played on Wednesday, 29 January, saw the Union team winning the toss and electing to bat.

A good opening partnership gave Union’s batsmen the necessary momentum to bat with freedom leading to a respectable total of 199/3 after their allotted 20 overs.

The Union boys then took to the field with excitement and intent, as the opening bowlers immediately hit the right lines to put their opposition under immense pressure.

Laer Volkskool was bowled out for 14 runs after 5.4 overs leading to a 185-run victory for Union.

The match was played in great spirit and Volkskool has to be commended for the lovely sportsmanship displayed during this match.

Union’s top performers were Shaakir Kazi (52 runs and 11/2) and Jade Lothering (33 runs).

Sport Results

Cricketers Capped

It was a proud moment as cricketers Jarrod Naudé, Josh Calitz, Rogan Odendaal and Sisipho Arnols were capped by their principal Mr William Pringle.

Brett Amsterdam and Mr William Pringle

The boys received their 1st XI caps prior to their Founders’ Weekend game against the Old Boys on Saturday, 25 January.

50 Caps for Brett

A special word of congratulations is extended to Brett Amsterdam who received his 50th cap for the 1st XI from Mr William Pringle on Saturday.

Well done Brett on this wonderful achievement!

Sport Results

Archery

Daniel and Matthew McNaughton

Two Union High School learners, cousins Daniel and Matthew McNaughton, recently participated in the NASP Interschools Archery Competition at the Daniël Pienaar Technical High School in Uitenhage.

Both boys did exceptionally well, with Matthew recording a score of 270/300 in the Bull’s Eye discipline and 266/300 in the 3D event and Daniel scoring a 273/300 in the Bull’s Eye discipline and a 264/300 in the 3D event.

Daniel was awarded a silver medal in the Senior Boys Class for the Bull’s Eye competition.

Bulletin, Student Life

Encantado De Conocerte, Sofia!

Last week, Union High School had a very special visitor.

Sofia Savage, the daughter of Old Unionite Gary Savage (Class of ’96) who currently resides in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was given the opportunity to attend lessons at Union during their visit to South Africa.

Although the original idea was for Sofia to visit the school for a day, she enjoyed herself so much, that she decided to spend the entire week at the school.

Sofia used the opportunity to immerse herself in the Union culture and to experience the world from a different viewpoint.

It was a pleasure having you here Sofia! We hope you’ll remember your time at Union fondly!

• Sofia (left) is seen here with one of her Union Grade 9 classmates, Caitrin Spence.

Bulletin, Student Life

Gr 8 Orientation Camp

A great way to start the year!

Union High School’s Grade 8s started their year with a fantastic orientation camp.

The aim of this camp is not only to promote positive interaction among the Grade 8 group but also to establish a relationship of mutual respect and collaboration between the Grade 8s and the school’s prefects.

So, on Wednesday morning, 22 January, the excited Grade 8s – accompanied by the guides from the Camdeboo National Park, Union staff members and school prefects – set off on a fun hike in wonderful weather through the scenic Camdeboo National Park, all the way to the park’s Environmental Education Centre.

Here, the Grade 8s enjoyed lunch after which they engaged in activities with the park’s educational team and then tackled a series of specially designed tasks that facilitated them working together as a grade and co-operating with the senior mentoring system in the school.

This was an excellent opportunity for the senior leaders of the school to get to know their younger charges.

The learners seemed to have a lot of fun while creating a lot of happy memories of this exciting phase of their schooling.

Although completely exhausted, the Grade 8s arrived back on campus on Thursday, 23 January, prepped, excited and ready to embark on the journey of being a senior at Union High School.

Academic, Bulletin, Student Life

Gr 9s Learn About Contours

In Social Sciences yesterday (Tuesday, 21 January), Union’s Grade 9s discovered for themselves how the concept of contours is applied.

After drawing the contour lines onto their ‘butternut mountains’ using increasing water levels for accuracy, it became clear to them how contours are an ingenious tool to describe the physical landscape on maps.

The butternuts were made into a hearty soup afterwards!

 

Sport Results

Interhouse Athletics

Union High School’s annual Interhouse athletics day was held on Monday morning, 20 January.

As always, the day saw Interhouse rivalry and sporting prowess come together in a wonderful atmosphere.

Not only were the athletes determined and enthusiastic, but the spirited supporters – led by House Captains Sakhe Booi and Ezra Mangunda (Arnott) and Brett Amsterdam and Nangamso Xonti (Daly) – also contributed to the atmosphere.

Apart from the exciting sprints, shot put and long jump events, the day dished up some very memorable moments, in particular, the High Jump Boys Open event, won by Mack Rubidge, which drew a large crowd.

The nail-biting 100m Boys Open race had the spectators on the edge of their seats with Kwezi Simon (11,71s) coming in first, followed by Brett Amsterdam hot on his heels in second place (11,89s).

The relay Boys Open race – won by Daly House – also proved to be one of the day’s highlights with the traditional ‘Teacher vs Matric’ race concluding the day’s events.

All in all, this year’s competition delivered some outstanding results and was thoroughly enjoyed by all those who participated.

Some of the top individual performers of the day were:

• u/15 Victrix Ludorum – Wendy Albertyn Trophy: Lana Bouwer
• u/15 Victor Ludorum – Trevor Albertyn Trophy: Xander Kriel
• u/17 Victrix Ludorum – André Paris Cup: Erin Mitchell
• u/17 Victor Ludorum: Sisipho Arnols
• Open Girls’ Jumping Events: Jade Shires
• Open Boys’ Jumping Events: Mack Rubidge
• Open Girls’ Throwing Events – Cheryl Geard Trophy: Sakhe Booi
• Open Boys’ Throwing Events – Willem Theron Trophy: Mack Rubidge
• Open Girls’ Field Events: Laetitia Theron
• Open Boys’ Field Events – Reg Moore Cup: Mack Rubidge
• Open Girls’ Long Distances – Evan van Zyl Trophy: Jade Shires
• Open Girls’ Sprints – Zeta Marais Shield: Laetitia Theron
• Open Boys’ Sprints – Minnaar Cup: Matthew Carelse
• Senior Victrix Ludorum: Laetitia Theron
• Senior Victor Ludorum – Radium Cleaners: Mack Rubidge
• Most credible performance of the day: Ntsika Ngongoma
• Interhouse relays – Alex Murray Cup: Daly House
• Interhouse Shield Competition Winners: Arnott House

At the end of the day, the participants representing Arnott House were victorious with their 1 546 points, compared to Daly House’s 1286 points.

Well done to all those who participated!

Visit our facebook page to view photographs

Sport Results

Snr Cricket Results vs Framesby

Union, Framesby contest T20

On Friday evening, 17 January, Union High School’s 1st XI took on Framesby in a T20 under lights at the Botanics Sports Grounds.

Union batted first and scored 89 in their allotted 20 overs.

James Pienaar top-scored for Union with 40 runs. Brett Amsterdam managed to put 20 on the board.

Union’s bowlers were disciplined in their line and length when Framesby came in to bat, making it difficult for the opposition to score.

A few missed chances in the field, unfortunately, let the pressure off and Framesby passed Union’s score with 4 wickets down.

Union lost the match by 6 wickets.

• The 50-over game scheduled for Saturday, 18 January, was cancelled due to rain.

Sport Results

Tennis Results – Quadrangular

Union High School’s Top 8 senior boys and girls tennis players travelled to Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) on Sunday, 19 January, to compete in the annual Settlers Cup Quadrangular.

With much-appreciated rain in the air, the girls started off well with a clean sweep over Victoria Girls’ (4 – 0), in the doubles and a solid 7 – 1 victory in the singles.

The girls then faced Kingswood in a tough set of matches which resulted in a 2-all draw in the doubles and 3 – 5 loss in the singles.

The anticipated matches against DSG were called off soon after due to rain.

• Union’s Top 8 boys’ first encounter for the day was against Graeme College.

After recording a 2-all draw in the doubles, the boys fought hard in their singles matches, winning 5 out of the eight matches to win the encounter against Graeme with 7 matches to 5.

Their match-up against Kingswood College turned out to be a bit tougher, with the boys losing the doubles 0 – 4. After some hard-fought singles and having to forfeit a match due to an injury, Union, unfortunately, lost the encounter 3 – 9.

Rain then intervened and the match against St Andrew’s was cancelled.

For the first outing of the year, the boys and girls played some really exciting tennis and showed outstanding sportsmanship, with the players enjoying a great start to the year overall.

Congratulations to all the learners for giving it their all and to the Grahamstown host schools for a superb day of tennis.