Month: Aug 2022

Well done to Grade 11 learner 𝗔𝗿𝗻𝗼 𝗡𝗲𝗹𝗹 who was selected out of thousands of entries through an audition process earlier this year to participate in the 𝘔𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘺-𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘬 run by 𝘈𝘉𝘚 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘬𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘴.

The 𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗠𝗠𝗘 ran for 12 months with well-known Afrikaans actors, such as Desire Gardner, Vilje Maritz and Izak Davel, stepping in as mentors for this time.

𝘈𝘳𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, Je-ani Swiegelaar 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 12-𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺.

This course consisted of online classes focussing on – among other things – character development, body work, voice work and improvisation.

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘈𝘳𝘯𝘰!

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘌𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘧𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵.

𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗦 to the following learners on excellent results achieved in the Karoo Eisteddfod’s Visual Arts and Photography categories. (𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.)

To get everyone on the same page when it comes to a love of reading, we celebrate the Grade 8 learner who read the most books each term.

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥!

Over 1500 dancers, from 30 dance studios, danced their hearts out at the 41st edition of this prestigious 10-day festival, in every single dance form including ballet, contemporary, modern, tap, hip-hop, Spanish, Indian, Irish, African, fusion, free movement, ballroom dancing, cheerleading and adaptive dance (freestyle).

• 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗕𝗼𝘂𝘄𝗲𝗿 did exceptionally well to claim Gold for each of her two Ballet Classical Solos ‘Spring Time’ and ‘Once Upon A Time’, while 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮 𝗠𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘆 also claimed Gold for her Ballet Classical Duet ‘Spanish Flair’.

𝘉𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘢𝘧𝘧-𝘙𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰, Chinelle School of Dancing.

Our newly elected prefects for 2022/23 are attending their prefect camp this weekend, 26 to 28 August.  This year’s camp is being held in the heart of Addo at the Leaders In Life-School and Sports Camps outdoor education centre.

Accompanied by Mrs Nelia Read and Mr Hanno Sparrius, our learner leaders will spend the weekend doing fun-filled activities geared towards fostering the development of key skills such as confidence, self-belief, communication and team spirit.

We’re sure each and every one of them will return from this weekend with memories that will last a lifetime!

Union’s Grade 10s had the opportunity to explore the four chambers of a heart, see where the blood travels to and from, and touch the capillaries, veins and aorta during their Life Sciences lesson with Mr Hanno Sparrius earlier today, Thursday, 25 August.

𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 11𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘺𝘴.

The day began at the Valley Of Desolation where SANParks staff members told the group how the valley was formed and emphasized the national heritage value thereof. Everyone enjoyed the hour-long Crag Lizard Trail hike and a breakfast picnic while learning about rocks and plants.

The happy group then travelled to Ganora Guest Farm – a sheep farm situated just outside Nieu-Bethesda in the foothills of the majestic Sneeuberg Range – singing and playing games in the bus along the way.

At Ganora, the learners explored the caves of the San and Khoi people and learned many interesting things from Mr Henry Witbooi, their guide. They saw old rock art, while learning all about the differences between the San and Khoi rock paintings. The children also enjoyed a fascinating ‘show and tell’ talk by Mr JP Steynberg in his fossil museum. Here they learned that the area was once a great inland lake and they viewed many specimens of fossils, on average about 280 million years old, pre-dinosaur time. These included fossils of carnivores, herbivores, insects, crawling creatures, fish and even plants. They were taught how fossils are formed over many years.

The children were then treated to a tasty lunch in the garden of the main farmstead.

While food and knowledge were digesting, the group drove off to Nieu-Bethesda and enjoyed a sweet treat at the Hallabaloo Coffee Shop. Those that brought pocket money were given an opportunity to do some shopping before heading back to school.

It was all-in-all a well-balanced educational field trip that included loads of learning, exercise and some fun. 𝘖𝘶𝘵𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴!

Visit https://www.facebook.com/unionhighschool to view photographs

• Union extends a grateful word of 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞𝗦 to all those who hosted our learners during the day and to our drivers, Mr Trevor Zali and Mr Arnold du Plessis, who drove the children safely up hill and down dale.

Aptly called the sport of a million steps, 𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗨𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 is a long-distance competition against the clock, testing the speed and endurance of a horse and challenging the rider over their effective use of pace, thorough knowledge of their horse’s capabilities and ability to cross all kinds of terrain. 𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵.

Tristan fared exceptionally well, as he not only completed a 40km course on both days successfully, but did so on two different horses, one of which he’d never ridden before.

His best time clocked during the event was 2 hours, 34 minutes. Tristan’s next race will be the Bedford Endurance Ride planned for September.

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯! 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥!

𝗠𝗿 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗱𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝟴 & 𝟵 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝘀 (𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮) 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿.

Mr Gradwell is well-known among the Union community, being an 𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗘 himself.

Upon matriculating from Union, he pursued qualifications in both the Fine Arts and Education from NMMU, after which he served as an educator at the De Kuilen Primary School in Cape Town for about eight years before accepting a position at Union.

(In addition to teaching, Mr Gradwell is also working towards his postgraduate Master’s degree in Education.)

𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘳 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘸𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭.