Welcome Back, Unionites

Today, we ๐—ช๐—˜๐—Ÿ๐—–๐—ข๐— ๐—˜ our Union High School, Graaff-Reinet learners back to our campus for the 2023 academic year.

For just over a century, we have taught girls and boys with ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜†, ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ and ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ. We look forward to another year of growth!

๐˜ž๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ, ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ด!

Salisbury Exchange

2023 ๐—ฆ๐—”๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—ฆ๐—•๐—จ๐—ฅ๐—ฌ ๐—˜๐—ซ๐—–๐—›๐—”๐—ก๐—š๐—˜ students, Fraser Davis and Robert Wallace, have arrived in South Africa!

The pair was picked up from the airport on Saturday, 14 January, after which they spent a sunny couple of days in Plettenberg Bay with Grade 7 learner Brett Kenmuir and his family.

While in Plett, the boys were treated with a visit to the Elephant Sanctuary and Monkeyland, which they enjoyed very much.

On Tuesday, 17 January, they were settled into Union’s Herby Arnott House by the Kenmuir and Mills families, who will be taking care of them this term.

๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ข๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ!

Triathlon – Well Done Ben!

๐—ช๐—˜๐—Ÿ๐—Ÿ ๐——๐—ข๐—ก๐—˜ to Union High School, Graaff-Reinet learner ๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—Ÿ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ธ๐—ฒ, who completed his very first triathlon successfully this past weekend.

Hosted in Gqbergha on Saturday, 14 January, the Nelson Mandela Bay Triathlon Championships saw Ben compete in the Youth Category, which entails a 350m sea swim, a 10km cycle, and finally, a 2.5km run (sprint!).

๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต – ๐˜ข ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ-๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด, ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฌ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด. ๐˜๐˜ต’๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ซ๐˜ถ๐˜จ๐˜จ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜‰๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ, ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฏ’๐˜ต ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฎ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต.

Afterwards he claimed to find the sea-swim ‘exhilarating’ and his body ‘exhausted’, but he would definitely do it again!

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—น๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐˜„ ๐—•๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† (๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ-๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฑ๐˜†๐—ฟ๐˜€).

Well done, Ben! We are super proud of you

Long-Service Milestones

We were very fortunate to be able to start our year off by celebrating some of our staffโ€™s ๐—Ÿ๐—ข๐—ก๐—š-๐—ฆ๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—ฉ๐—œ๐—–๐—˜ ๐— ๐—œ๐—Ÿ๐—˜๐—ฆ๐—ง๐—ข๐—ก๐—˜๐—ฆ.

While we continue to reiterate that the

๐™˜๐™ค๐™ข๐™ข๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ข๐™š๐™ฃ๐™ฉ, ๐™™๐™š๐™™๐™ž๐™˜๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ and ๐™๐™–๐™ง๐™™ ๐™ฌ๐™ค๐™ง๐™  by all staff is noticed, greatly appreciated and worthy of recognition, in this particular event we honoured two members of staff who have been with Union for 10 and 15 years respectively.

๐˜–๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜บ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ.

Please join us in congratulating Mrs ๐—›๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ž๐—ฒ๐˜†๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฟ (10 years) and Mrs ๐—ฌ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฒ (15 years).

RIP Mr Maree

It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the unexpected passing of ๐— ๐—ฅ ๐—•๐—ฅ๐—จ๐—–๐—˜ ๐— ๐—”๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—˜ on Saturday, 31 December 2022.

๐˜”๐˜ณ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ. ๐˜ˆ๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ, ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜บ, ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ.

While writing this tribute, it was very difficult to find words that accurately reflect what Mr Maree meant to Union. Since his appointment as an educator at Union in 1970, his relentless energy and deep dedication to the school, has certainly made a lasting impact.

It would be very interesting to calculate how many lives had been touched by Mr Mareeโ€™s kindness, how many kilometres he had covered as he walked the corridors of the school and just how many people he had served during his 41-year tenure at Union…

Well, one could speculate, but it is safe to say that there is no one who surpasses his tally and this would certainly make him smile.

In 1980, after having served 10 years at the school, he was promoted to Head of Department, where he assumed responsibility for the Primary Department ensuring that thousands of learners were carefully sifted and moulded in his Mathematics class.

During his time at Union, Mr Maree also taught Senior Maths, Accounting and other commercial subjects.

In addition to teaching, Mr Maree had a great influence on the general development of the school. His contributions included a host of activities – both cultural and sporting.

He coached cricket, rugby and swimming. He was also responsible for the running of the Tony Burrell Union for 25 years, served as the secretary of the Old Unionite Association for 15 years and, for 20 years, he produced and edited the Focus magazine which reflected life at the school.

Of course, Scouts deserves a special paragraph. After taking over the reins from Mr Chookie Geard as scoutmaster in 1967, Mr Maree made it his mission in the 55 years that followed, to create an opportunity for every Scout joining the Troop, to obtain South Africaโ€™s highest Scouting Award, the Springbok Badge. The Troop now has a proud record of 74 such Springbok Awards.

After retiring from the teaching profession in 2011, Mr Maree continued to be a regular presence at Union, and could be seen supporting the teams from the side-lines on a regular basis.

In 2014, during Interschools, his service to the school was commemorated with the official unveiling of the โ€˜Bruce Maree Gatesโ€™ โ€“ it couldnโ€™t be more fitting that these gates now serve to welcome all those entering the Union campus.

๐™Ž๐™ž๐™ข๐™ฅ๐™ก๐™ฎ ๐™ฅ๐™ช๐™ฉ, ๐™ˆ๐™ง ๐™ˆ๐™–๐™ง๐™š๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ก๐™ก ๐™–๐™ก๐™ฌ๐™–๐™ฎ๐™จ ๐™—๐™š ๐™ง๐™š๐™ข๐™š๐™ข๐™—๐™š๐™ง๐™š๐™™ ๐™–๐™จ ๐™– ๐™๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ ๐™ก๐™š๐™œ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฌ๐™š ๐™–๐™ง๐™š ๐™œ๐™ค๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™ข๐™ž๐™จ๐™จ ๐™๐™ž๐™จ ๐™ฌ๐™–๐™ง๐™ข๐™ฉ๐™, ๐™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™™๐™ฃ๐™š๐™จ๐™จ ๐™–๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ฌ๐™š๐™ก๐™˜๐™ค๐™ข๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ฃ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ง๐™š, ๐™–๐™จ ๐™ฌ๐™š๐™ก๐™ก ๐™–๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ก๐™š๐™จ ๐™ค๐™› ๐™ฎ๐™š๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง๐™ฎ๐™š๐™–๐™ง ๐™๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ก๐™™ ๐™ฉ๐™–๐™ ๐™š ๐™œ๐™ง๐™š๐™–๐™ฉ ๐™ฅ๐™ก๐™š๐™–๐™จ๐™ช๐™ง๐™š ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ก๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ.

Our thoughts at this time are with his family and friends.

Welcome To New Staff

As our teachers return to school tomorrow, we take great pride in welcoming three new educators to the Union High School, Graaff-Reinet team.

โฌ› Old Unionite, Mr ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ด๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜ƒ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ญ๐˜†๐—น, returns to his alma mater this year as Unionโ€™s new Grade 8 and 9 Afrikaans educator.

Prior to accepting this position at Union, Mr van Zyl was employed at Kingswood College in Makhanda, where he served as the Junior Schoolโ€™s Head of Afrikaans.

In addition to being passionate about teaching, Mr van Zyl possesses a love of sport that has seen him acquire a diverse skillset as a coach.

In addition to being a certified triathlon coach, Mr van Zyl also has a wealth of experience in the coaching of rugby, hockey, athletics, trail running, middle distance running, cycling and swimming.

๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜”๐˜ณ ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ก๐˜บ๐˜ญ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ.

โฌ› It would not be wise to ask new teacher Mrs ๐—”๐—ป๐—ปรฉ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—˜๐—ธ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ what she did before coming to Union High School.

Rather, it might save one time to ask what she ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ฏโ€™๐˜ต do.

Mrs Ekkerd has taught Accounting to Grade 8 to 12 learners for the past 22 years (17 of which has been for Grade 12), she has also taught Grade 8 and 9 EMS. In addition to this, she served as a member of her previous schoolโ€™s senior management team, disciplinary committee and examination committee (among other), while also making time to serve as grade head and subject head.

Her talents, however, isnโ€™t confined to the classroom, as, during her years in education, Mrs Ekkerd has also proven to be a deft hand on the sports field, coaching 1st team netball and athletics.

Now Mrs Ekkerd (who moved to Graaff-Reinet in 2022 when her husband, Rev. Johann Ekkerd, was called to serve as the new reverend of the Dutch Reformed Church), has moved on to the next step in her life: teaching Grade 9 EMS, Grade 10 LO and Grade 10 to 12 Accounting at Union.

๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ, ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ, ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ. ๐˜๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฎ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด’ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ญ-๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ญ ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ.

โฌ› There are some teachers who engrain a mark so deeply in the psyche of both their charges and the institution that they are a part of, that the loss of them creates a void that is difficult to fill. Mr ๐—˜๐—น๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜๐—ท๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ is one of these remarkable educators and humans.

After having left Union at the end of 2019 to pursue full-time ministry (and being sorely missed since by all those at the school), we are ecstatic to report that Mr Jantjiesโ€™ journey had led him back to Union.

Come Wednesday, 18 January, Mr Jantjies will be back in front of the classroom, teaching Mathematics to Unionโ€™s Grade 8 to 12 learners.

To say that we are glad to have him back, would be an understatement.

Mr Jantjies first walked through the doors of Union as an educator in July 2014… Unionโ€™s Maths department would never be the same again!

His classes were engaging, fun and challenging and even when the topic wavered a little to conspiracy theories and the like โ€“ always thought provoking and entertaining.

Mr Jantjies initiated the annual โ€˜Nieu-Bethesda Maths Campsโ€™ where Grade 11 Maths Formal learners were exposed to different aspects of the fascinating subject, and came away enlightened and excited, having dealt with fractals, maths in nature, structural engineering, coding and the like.

Mr Jantjies can be described as an enthusiast of note. The passion he has for his subject shone through him and into those he taught. This passion was also evident in the work he did with the Media Team, and the bi-monthly video production of the โ€œUnion Newsโ€ which fast became a popular and powerful marketing tool for the school, as well as top quality, professional entertainment which everyone looked forward to.

Many Union learners became quite professional news reporters under his guidance โ€“ and the fun which they had in the process simply shone through them.

As a Grade 10 class teacher, Mr Jantjies also became a part of Unionโ€™s annual โ€œOdysseyโ€. The first to say that he had never hiked or been exposed to the wilderness before, he took to it like a duck to water, and soon became hooked on what this experience offered.

He was an invaluable mentor to the Grade 10s on this difficult journey, and valued the deeper insight it gave him regarding those in his care. His delightful sense of humour, easy manner, open-hearted smile and sincerity made him a well-loved and respected educator and mentor to many.

๐˜”๐˜ณ ๐˜‘๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ซ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ข ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ฆโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ซ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ!

Learners Excel in Music Examination

๐—จ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐˜€ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—น

Congratulations to senior music students, ๐—ง๐—ฎ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—›๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฑ (Grade 8 ), ๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฒ (Grade 9) and Melissa Naudรฉ (Grade 8) who successfully passed their recent Rockschool Practical Examinations with assurance!

Sasha played a Classical Rockschool Grade 4 Examination and achieved 80% (Merit). For this examination, she performed sixteen Technical Exercises (with legato feel), one Stylistic Study and three Performance Pieces presented as a continuous program.

๐˜ˆ ๐˜Š๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜™๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ ๐˜Ž๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜Š๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜Š๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ด, ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜‰๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜Š๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜™๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ 20๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ 21๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜บ.

Taegen played a Contemporary Rockschool Grade 3 Graded Certificate Examination and achieved 94% (Distinction). For this examination, she performed twenty Technical Exercises (with swing & straight feel), two Chord Voicing Exercises and three Performance Pieces presented as a continuous program.

๐˜ˆ ๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜™๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ ๐˜Ž๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜Š๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜บ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฎ, ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ-๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜บ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ฑ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ต, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ, ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ฌ, ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ญ, ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด, ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜บ, ๐˜ง๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ, ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ซ๐˜ข๐˜ป๐˜ป, ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ฎ & ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ.

๐— ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฎ played the Grade 2 Performance Certificate Examination and achieved 86% (Merit).

For this examination, she performed five Performance Pieces presented as a continuous programme.

Well done Sasha, Taegen and Melissa!

A Parting Gift

For most of our Grade 12s (๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ธ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜”๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ค ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜”๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜บ), their journey at the Union Schools came to an end today, Friday, 2 December, having written their final matric examination!

As has become tradition, the matrics took off their school shoes upon finishing their exam and left them behind on their examination desks.

As we watched the matriculants leave the school in high spirits – either barefoot, in flip flops, or wearing only their socks – our hearts swelled.

At Union, ๐™ฌ๐™š ๐™จ๐™ฉ๐™ง๐™ž๐™ซ๐™š ๐™ฉ๐™ค ๐™˜๐™ช๐™ก๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ซ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™š ๐™– ๐™˜๐™ช๐™ก๐™ฉ๐™ช๐™ง๐™š ๐™ค๐™› ๐™œ๐™ž๐™ซ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™–๐™ข๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ค๐™ช๐™ง ๐™ก๐™š๐™–๐™ง๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ and seeing so many pairs of shoes and knowing the importance they hold for the underprivileged, make us very proud of our learners.

๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฌ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ. ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฅ๐˜ถ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜ณ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜บ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฑ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ.

๐—ช๐—˜๐—Ÿ๐—Ÿ ๐——๐—ข๐—ก๐—˜ ๐—–๐—Ÿ๐—”๐—ฆ๐—ฆ ๐—ข๐—™ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฎ!

SAMO 2022

As Unionโ€™s maths teachers constantly encourage the fun element in maths and like to challenge learners to stretch themselves and step out of their comfort zones, the learners were, once again, encouraged to participate in this yearโ€™s ๐™Ž๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฉ๐™ ๐˜ผ๐™›๐™ง๐™ž๐™˜๐™–๐™ฃ ๐™ˆ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ข๐™–๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™˜๐™จ ๐™Š๐™ก๐™ฎ๐™ข๐™ฅ๐™ž๐™–๐™™ (๐™Ž๐˜ผ๐™ˆ๐™Š), an annual Olympiad organised by the South African Mathematics Foundation (SAMF).

The first round of the Olympiad โ€“ in which Union had fifty Grade 8 to 12 learners sitting for the paper – was held in March this year.

๐™๐™๐™š ๐™›๐™ค๐™ก๐™ก๐™ค๐™ฌ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ ๐™ก๐™š๐™–๐™ง๐™ฃ๐™š๐™ง๐™จ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š๐™ฃ ๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ง๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™˜๐™ž๐™ฅ๐™–๐™ฉ๐™š๐™™ ๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฉ๐™๐™š ๐™จ๐™š๐™˜๐™ค๐™ฃ๐™™ ๐™ง๐™ค๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™™, receiving certificates for their participation: Shiraz Pedersen, Samantha Charles, Trystan Hulleman, Erin Gedult, Tara Ferreira, Sarah Wilmot, Cadee Arends, Matthew McNaughton and Siphosethu Malotana.

๐—–๐—ข๐—ก๐—š๐—ฅ๐—”๐—ง๐—จ๐—Ÿ๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก๐—ฆ to 2022 Grade 12 learner ๐— ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐— ๐—ฐ๐—ก๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐—ผ๐—ป (pictured here) on earning a spot among the Top 85 participants in the Eastern Cape