In February, Union High School commenced with the renovation of the upstairs bathrooms as well as the guest bathroom at the school’s senior girls hostel, the Herby Arnott House.
The bathrooms, which were then gutted and completely redone by Colin Warner Plumbing, has recently been completed and the girls, as well as guests visiting the hostel, are now able to enjoy the new modern face-lifted facilities.
Graaff-Reinet local Gerrit Brink, the son of Sanette and André Brink, was recently invited to become a member of the Stellenbosch University’s Chapter of the esteemed Golden Key International Honour Society.
Gerrit, now a second-year student at SU, matriculated at Union High School in 2017, third in his class, boasting an A-aggregate and six distinctions. By also excelling in his studies towards a BEng degree in Mechatronic Engineering at Stellenbosch University, Gerrit has now earned himself a lifetime seat at the Golden Key Society table.
The award is in recognition of Gerrit’s academic excellence and leadership while studying towards his degree.
Golden Key membership is the highest university accolade awarded only to students in the top 15% per field of study in any undergraduate and post-graduate degree programme, and it’s strictly by invitation only, so yes, a lifetime membership is no trivial feat.
Gerrit will be presented with his award in October of this year.
• More about Gerrit’s field of study:
Mechatronic engineering is a new focus area in engineering that promises to become even more important in the future, both in South Africa as well as internationally. With automation as the current key to productivity, the need for mechatronics (which makes it possible to generate simpler, more economical, reliable and versatile systems) increases by the day.
Mechatronic engineering is a synergistic combination of precision mechanical engineering, electronics and computer systems. A typical mechatronic system is characterised by close integration of the mechanical components, electronic sensors, mechanical and electrical actuators and computer controllers.
Mechatronic engineering is an interdisciplinary engineering field that specialises in the control of advanced hybrid systems. These systems are found in numerous industry sectors where mechanical and electronic engineering are interfaced with computer systems, such as aerospace, automotive, chemical processing, computers, communications, electronics, healthcare, manufacturing and mining.
Union High School requires the assistance of a small crew of parent volunteers to help our food stalls run smoothly on the Saturday morning of Interschools weekend (10 August).
Volunteers are required from among the Grade 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 parents.
If you are willing to assist, even if it is just to work a 1-hour shift, please send your details to either Bronwen Langmead (071 875 8521) or Mariëtte Burger (061 310 8343).
Early Saturday morning, 18 May, Union’s u/13A rugby boys played a very physical match against Niko Brummer from Beaufort-West.
The Union players absorbed countless waves of attack and managed to capitalize on the mistakes of their opposition.
Both teams displayed great determination with the lead changing hands on more than one occasion. The last five minutes proved to be the difference between the two teams, as the Union players fought hard to see out a 24 – 15 win.
• In their respective matches, the u/11As lost 24 – 10 against Niko Brummer while the u/9As lost 7 – 29 and the u/7As lost 5 – 20 against Graaff-Reinet Primary.
On Saturday, 18 May, the three hockey matches played at the UHS AstroTurf resulted in three victories for the Union teams who faced off against their Cradock High School counterparts.
From the get-go, Cradock struggled against the fine hockey being presented by the Union teams on the turf and Union proceeded to dominate in what has, in years gone by, always been a tough encounter.
The u/16B team was first to take to the turf, winning their bout 9 – 0, the Union second team then followed suit, winning their match 8 – 0.
At the start of the match between the two school’s first teams that followed, the Union girls battled to stamp their authority on the game, despite six or more attempts at goal in the first quarter, with only Marche Green being able to find the back of the net in the 12th minute.
Union, however, settled into their game plan and the second quarter saw Micela Loock score an excellent goal in the first minute and Henzѐ Jaftha another well-worked goal in the third minute. Jenna McNaughton then scored in the sixth minute to follow suit. With the half time score standing at 4 – 0 in Union’s favour, the second half saw Union again firing on all cylinders with Henze, Jade and Micela scoring in the third, fourth and 14th minute respectively.
The fourth quarter saw the Union team again attacking from the outset which saw Micela scored two more goals and Jenna one more to bring the final score to stand at 10 – 0 to Union.
“This was by far the girls’ best performance to date, with excellent passing, ball speed and vision leading to an entertaining match,” said proud coach Alvin August. “More of these performances will see our girls become a force to be reckoned with among the Top 8 teams in the Eastern Cape.”
Union hosted Cradock High School on Saturday, 18 May for their annual showdown.
It turned out to be an enjoyable morning for all the Union supporters who turned up to watch the encounter, as the rugby teams managed to record several successes: the u/14As won 33 – 7, the u/15Bs lost 5 – 36, the u/15As won 26 – 15, the u/16As won 46 – 12 , the 2nd XV won 37 – 7 and the 1st XV won 33 – 15.
Judging by the entertaining brand of rugby spectators were treated to all morning, the first team match was set to be a good one. The game started with Cradock scoring a try in the first eight minutes, due to some ill-discipline by Union at the breakdown. The ‘Mighty Whites’ soon lifted their intensity levels and bounced back with a good lineout maul, resulting in Zusakhe Ngwane diving over to get Union onto the scoreboard.
Brett Amsterdam converted to make the score stand at 7 – 5 in Union’s favour. Keeping possession by setting up phases and good execution, saw Gary Shell cross over for Union’s second try. Brett converted once again, taking Union’s tally to 14. Union kept the pressure on and ran fiercely at Cradock – their defences were breached once again as Ashton Dawids dotted down under the poles. Brett converted and Union went into half time 21 – 5 up.
The second half was closely contested for the first 20 minutes. The ‘Mighty Whites’, however, then shifted their play up a gear and got the structures back into place. Brilliant interplay between backs and forwards saw Ashton Davids score an amazing team try. Brett converted to increase Union’s lead to 28-5.
A lapse in concentration led to a Cradock try on the blind side. The score now stood at 28 – 10 to UHS.
Union then piled on the pressure, sucked in defenders and exploited the space wonderfully as Bladen Jacobs scored in the corner. The conversion was unsuccessful and the score then stood at 33 – 10 in Union’s favour.
Cradock scored a third try due to Union not shifting quick enough on defence. The conversion was missed and the final score was 33 – 15 in Union’s favour.
Union’s try scorers were Zusakhe Ngwane, Gary Shell, Ashton Dawids (2) and Bladen Jacobs. Brett Amsterdam successfully converted 4 from 5.
Thanks are extended to all the supporters for the tremendous encouragement extended to the players from the sidelines.
Union’s junior hockey teams arrived in Uitenhage on Saturday (18 May), greeted by lovely weather and very welcoming hosts.
The teams had a great encounter against Riebeek College, with the 3rd Juniors winning 3 – 0, the 2nd Juniors losing 0 – 1 and the 1st Juniors winning 5 – 3.
1st JUNIORS MATCH REPORT
Our junior hockey girls travelled to Uitenhage this weekend to compete against Riebeek College. After a hard mid-week lesson against Gill on grass, the girls were much better prepared for this encounter. They turned on the pressure from the get-go, with our first shot at goal coming within the first 15 seconds of the match. From this moment on, a fast-paced tussle for the lead ensued, and while Union were undoubtedly in control of the game, Riebeek were ultimately the first to score. By the time the whistle at the end of the first half went, Union were down 1 goal to 2.
The 2nd half commenced with a renewed effort from our gutsy girls and they worked extremely hard to maintain this pressure for the remainder of the game. Once they took the lead, they never looked back, thus securing a well-deserved victory for themselves. The goal scorers on the day were Soso Mroro (3 goals), Chloe Erasmus (1) and Charlize Vorster (1).
All the girls played very well, but the following deserve special mention: Sadé May (whose phenomenal work-rate was key to the team’s success); Alinda Goosen (whose solid defense stymied many attacks); Soso Mroro (with her 3 timely goals) and finally, Bontle Mashiane (who stepped in at the last minute as keeper for the team and did a sterling job on her first time out).
Congratulations on a fine result girls!
On Thursday morning, 16 May, four of Union’s Grade 12 learners represented the school at the provincial round of the annual MinQuiz competition held at NMU in Port Elizabeth.
MinQuiz, organised by the Council for Mineral Technology (Mintek), is regarded as South Africa’s premier national Maths and Science competition for Grade 12 learners. During this competition, the Union team members, Peter Watermeyer, Ethan Gedult, Megan Doyle and Sanja du Plessis, were pitted against the top Grade 12 learners of schools from all over the Eastern Cape.
To start, the learners first had to write a preliminary multiple-choice question test individually. The learners performed very well in this round and based on the aggregate score of their written tests, Union was announced as one of the top five schools in the Gold category that would be competing during the second round of the competition, a live, on-stage oral quiz. That afternoon, the Union learners then competed as a team against the four other teams on the auditorium’s stage in front of an audience and a panel of judges. After a nervous start, the team gained momentum and finished third overall, winning R550 for the school.
The school congratulates these learners on their stellar effort!
The purpose of the visit was to hand over a mountain of toys collected through Union’s recent toy drive. …
Initiated by Mrs. Elaine Stanley, the project was launched earlier this year as one of the school’s Centenary projects and was aimed at alleviating the plight of this centre which cares for 45 children between the ages of 2 and 5, with minimal funding.
With the assistance of Ms. Jenny Street, this joint effort by the Union Prep School and Union High School’s Junior Department turned into a huge success with hundreds of toys being collected over the past couple of months.
Angeline Adams, who works at the centre, said the donation will go a long way in improving the lives of the children and that the kids cannot wait to play with their new toys.
The school would like to thank all the parents who donated so generously, the learners for all their efforts in collecting the toys and the community for assisting them in this endeavour.
• The Sonstraal Educare Centre is a non-profit organisation largely dependent on donations. Anyone wanting to assist or who would like to find out more about this centre can visit their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/
Union High School’s annual Junior Speech Competition was held on Tuesday evening, 7 May.
This year’s event saw eleven of the school’s junior Grade 8s and 9s go up against one another in an evening filled with thought-provoking speeches.
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.
Even though this event was a first for many of the learners involved, the experience was enjoyed by all.
Union would like to thank all the participants involved – it was pleasing to see so many enthusiastic learners presenting their speeches.