Sport Results, Tennis

EP Selection – Tennis

Congratulations to Tara Ferreira, Matthew Paxton and Caytah-Leigh Koeberg who were recently selected to represent the Eastern Cape at the upcoming Inter-Provincial Primary and High Schools national tennis tournament to be held from 9 to 12 April.

These players were selected during trials played in January.

Tara will represent the province as part of their Girls u/13 team, Caytah-Leigh will be playing for the Girls u/15 team and Matthew will be playing for the Eastern Cape Aloes Boys u/13 team.

Union High School is proud of the depth of our tennis talent and congratulate our players on the honour of representing the Eastern Cape. Provincial selection is the result of long hours on the tennis court practising and is recognition of their talent and passion for the sport.

Academic, Bulletin

Math Whiz Matthew!

Matthew McNaughton, a Grade 10 learner at Union High School, recently proved himself to be a math whiz during the 2019 South African Mathematics Olympiad (SAMO).

Matthew, who participated in the competition last year as a Grade 9 learner in the junior division, earned himself a spot under the Top 10 junior learners in the Eastern Cape!

Matthew was recently honoured by the South African Mathematics Foundation (SAMF) with a certificate for his outstanding performance.

[The South African Mathematics Olympiad (SAMO) is South Africa’s biggest Olympiad. Close to 100 000 high school learners across the country participate annually.]

Well done Matthew!

Bulletin, Cultural

Exploring Connections

The members of Union High School’s Eco Club recently spent an afternoon learning about the interdependence of biotic and abiotic things in the environment.

Braving the sweltering Karoo heat, they worked well in their teams, conducting an audit and then using that knowledge to play ‘The Web of Life’ game.

A fun and educative afternoon was had by all!

Bulletin

New Desks To Transform Classrooms

The learners at Union High School in Graaff-Reinet are poised to become more focused, confident and productive than ever this year.

At least, that’s the aim of the school’s latest initiative.

With the objective of rethinking the classroom environment and providing options to learners in a way that opens up their possibilities for learning, Union has recently started to introduce flexible seating in its classrooms, with the aim of phasing out the standard desks completely in the near future.

The first classroom to be converted, was that of Mr Erwin Ittershagen-Strauss, who teaches mathematics at the school.

“The new desks offer fantastic scope for participatory teaching and learning,” said Mr Ittershagen-Strauss. “As the desks can be utilised in a mix of forms, whether in rows, groups or semi-circled tables, it allows us to arrange our classrooms with the learners’ physical space and interaction in mind.”

So far, the kids are loving the change!

Union hopes that its new approach to modernising its classrooms will positively impact the well-being and motivation of its learners, boost their morale and maximise the classroom’s potential in promoting thinking-interaction, study, collaboration, thinking alone, and so on.

Sport Results

Biathlon Inter-Provincial

Eight Union biathletes were invited to represent the Eastern Province at the Highgate Inter-Provincial competition in Oudtshoorn this past Saturday, 1 February.

They were Jakobus Reynolds, Mack Rubidge, Bowen Langmead, Mia Botha, Rebecca Copeman, Jade Shires, Elias Railton and Tyra Binney.

Of these eight, two were able to attend.

Mia Botha & Rebecca Copeman

Youngsters Mia Botha (Grade 4) and Rebecca Copeman (Grade 6) showed true grit, taking on the best of the best in sweltering 37˚C weather.

Facing some stiff competition from the likes of the Boland, Border, Eden, Southern Free State and Western Province, the two biathletes were in high spirits, performing to the best of their abilities and representing their school and province very well.

Sport Results

Snr Cricket Results vs Stirling

This past weekend, Union’s 1st XI faced Stirling High School in a declaration match played over two days.

The match, which commenced on Friday afternoon, 31 January, and concluded on Saturday, 1 February, saw Stirling winning the toss and electing to bat first at the start of play.

Union managed to bowl 43 overs in the allotted time for the day and had Stirling at 129 for 6 at the close of play.

On Saturday, Stirling resumed their innings and Union managed to strike early with two quick wickets.

Union, however, couldn’t capitalise on their efforts and allowed Stirling to reach a total of 184 all out.

Union’s best bowlers were Jaden Brotherton (3 for 21), James Pienaar (2 for 16) and Kyle-Luke du Preez (2 for 22).

Despite a solid start when Union went in to bat, they continued to lose wickets regularly and struggled to put partnerships together resulting in Union being bowled out for 132.

The Union team members who performed best with the bat during their first innings were James Pienaar (33) and James Pringle (29).

This resulted in Stirling proceeding with their second innings with a 52-run lead.

With Union needing to take only 5 wickets to restrict Stirling from gaining a substantial lead, they had the perfect start taking a wicket with the very first ball.

Union proceeded to bowl well and had Stirling at 19 for 2 in their second innings.

Unfortunately, the Union team was unable to sustain the needed pressure and Stirling managed to score 120 for 3, declaring with a 172-run lead.

Union needed to, therefore, score 173 runs to win the match with only 5 wickets in hand, however, Stirling declared late in the day leaving Union only 40 minutes to bat with them trying to take the 5 wickets for victory.

In the end, Union managed to bat out the time losing only one wicket for 30 runs.

Union’s best batsmen were James Pienaar (19 not out) and Jaden Brotherton (11 not out).

The match ended in a draw.

• Congratulations to Jaden Brotherton and Bowen Langmead on being awarded their 50th test caps for Union’s 1st XI before the match against Stirling.

 

Sport Results, Swimming

Swimming: B Age Group Gala

Eleven Union High School swimmers participated in the ‘B’ Age Group Gala at the Newton Park Swimming Pool in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, 1 February, competing in 24 events in total.

It was a debut meeting for swimmers Grace Kemp, Matthew Davenport, Daniel Marais and Luc Railton.  These swimmers did very well and will now be able to compete to improve their times at future meetings.

Standout performances included Tya Binney, James Potgieter and Max Price who swam two Personal Bests each.

Well done to all those who participated!

Bulletin, Student Life

Prefects Treated In Nieu-Bethesda

Since their induction as prefects, Union’s new learner leaders have been great ambassadors for the school, showing tremendous commitment to UHS and to their respective duties as prefects.

As the year starts to take hold in earnest, the prefects were treated to a laid-back 24-hours in Nieu-Bethesda, during which they relaxed in each other’s company, played some fierce Monopoly, relished in the sound of rain on a tin roof, engaged in 1-bounce and relay tennis, enjoyed delicious pizza at a local restaurant and generally got to know each other better on an informal basis.

We hope the prefects are feeling energised and ready for all that lies ahead in 2020 and wish them all the best in exercising their duties this year.

Onwards and upwards!