Union High School, Graaff-Reinet looks forward to hosting our 25th annual Anne Beagley Junior Rugby & Hockey Festival this year!
We are excited to welcome schools from across the country for four unforgettable days of top-quality junior rugby and hockey, great sportsmanship and a lot of festival fun!
Well done to ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด (Grade 5) on her excellent achievement in the Girls U11 High Jump at the recent Sarah Baartman Athletics Meet for Primary Schools at the Oval in Gqeberha. Graceโs impressive performance secured her selection to represent the Sarah Baartman Team at the Provincial Championships to be held at Queen’s College in Komani from 6 to 7 March.
The annual ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ข ๐๐๐๐, held at Hoรซr Volkskool this afternoon, Wednesday, 18 February, once again brought together talented swimmers from across the region.
In addition to the Union participants, teams from Gill, Cradock, Volkskool, Marlow and a group of home-schoolers competed in an exciting event that celebrated both individual excellence and teamwork.
In the primary school category, ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ปโ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ญ ๐๐ผ ๐ณ ๐๐๐ถ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ with an impressive 367 points. Laer Volkskool followed closely with 344 points, while Gill (284) and the Homeschool team (125) completed the standings.
In the high school section, Union High School’s girls finished in a strong second place with 179 points, just behind Hoรซr Volkskool (196). The boysโ finished third with 77 points against tough competition from Hoรซr Volkskool (137) and Marlow (116).
๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ธ๐ฒ, Senior Victor Ludorum and ๐ง๐ฎ๐๐น๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฏ๐, Junior Victrix Ludorum
A massive congratulations to ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ธ๐ฒ on being named Senior Victor Ludorum following last week’s ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ข ๐๐๐๐. We are equally delighted to celebrate ๐ง๐ฎ๐๐น๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฏ๐, who was crowned Junior Victrix Ludorum after a phenomenal set of swims.
Taylor not only secured six 1st places in the U14 Primary division, but also broke the 50m Backstroke record in an impressive 34.89 seconds. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ!
A special mention to ๐ญ๐ผรซ ๐ ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ for her outstanding four 1st places and to ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฒ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐, who claimed six 1st places in the U14 Primary division and broke the 100m Freestyle record in 1:08.49.
Well done as well to ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐บ๐ฎ ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐, who earned three 1st places and one 2nd place in the U12 category and to ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐, who secured one 1st place and three 2nd places.
Congratulations too to ๐๐น๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ฝ, who achieved three 2nd places and one 1st place in the U16 Girls division and to ๐๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐พ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ-๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ฎ for her excellent three 2nd places in the U14 Girls category.
We are ๐๐ซ๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ of every swimmer who represented the school with pride and dedication.
Nine athletes from Union High School participated in the Sarah Baartman Athletics Meeting on Tuesday, 17 February at the Oval in Gqeberha.
Our athletes delivered outstanding performances in both field and track events. Their hard work was rewarded with several top finishes, securing the following positions on the podium:
u14 ๏ฌ Liyabona Magqabi 1st place in 400 m ๏ฌ Noel Shakane 3rd place in 100 m and 2nd place in Long Jump ๏ฌ Angelique Kyanda-Kaboza 3rd in Shot Put ๏ฌ Samantha Musakase 3rd in High Jump
U15 ๏ฌ Jordan Maritz 2nd place in 200m ๏ฌ Rachel Wenham 3rd place in Javelin
u17 ๏ฌ Qhama Solomon 2nd place in Long Jump as well as High Jump
U19 ๏ฌ Liam Hornabrook 2nd place in Discus
Qhama Solomon was selected to represent the Sarah Baartman Team at the Eastern Cape Schools Athletics Meeting in High Jump and Long Jump, Boys u17 in Komani from 13 – 15 March:
We wish him all of the best for a successful and rewarding competition.
A heartfelt ๐ง๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ to the incredible organisers for putting together such a joyful event and for giving Union High School the opportunity to be part of it.
๐ง๐ผ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐น๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐๐ป๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ who passed our water station – your smiles and appreciation made the early start and busy morning more than worthwhile.
A very special thank you must go to groundsman, ๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฃ๐น๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐, whose love for Union shines through in everything he does.
We are also deeply grateful to ๐ ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ผ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ for so generously giving his morning, alongside the enthusiastic boarders from Arthur Kingwill House, to help man a water station with such energy and pride.
To the wonderful Union girls who helped at our station – ๐๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ณ๐๐ป.
And lastly, sincere a thank you to FreshStop At Astron Energy for their generous contribution to our stall!
From the very first ball bowled on Wednesday, 18 February, it was clear that Union High School’s junior cricketers’ 2026 ๐ง๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข ๐๐๐ข๐๐ would be about ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐น๐๐.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐จ๐ญ๐ญ๐ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ป๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ผ๐๐๐บ๐ฎ, claiming a superb 8-wicket win built on a breathtaking spell of 6/5 – including a hat-trick that had teammates erupting in celebration. It was the perfect start and a moment of pure joy.
Over the next few days, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ๐น๐ – by strong Grey College partnerships, by a tense chase against St Andrewโs halted cruelly by bad light with the game still in the balance and by a final-day thriller where they restricted Saints to just 72, only to fall one agonizing run short. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ.
๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ, the tour was a journey of grit and growth. A narrow two-wicket defeat to Willem Postma after posting 112 showed just how competitive they are and even in the tougher matches that followed, the team never dropped their heads.
Perhaps the most special moment came off the field on Friday, 20 February, when the players met members of the Knights Cricket Team at St Andrewโs. Watching the young cricketers light up as they asked questions and listened intently to the professionals was a reminder of why tours like this matter – dreams were sparked and horizons widened.
This tour will be remembered for special performances, hard lessons, shared laughter and the bonds strengthened between teammates. The scorebooks will record the results, but they wonโt capture the heart shown in every match. ๐ช๐ฒ๐น๐น ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ, ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ – ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ.
What a special Saturday it was as Union High School’s senior cricketers played their final match of the season against a visiting Graeme College.
Unionโs 1st XI won the toss and elected to bat first, but found themselves under early pressure, losing wickets and battling to build momentum. ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ 94 ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ด.
Taking to the field, Unionโs bowlers showed admirable discipline and fight. ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ led the attack superbly, claiming 3 wickets in his 10 overs for just 37 runs, while the team worked hard to keep the pressure on and took five wickets in total.
Two dropped catches proved costly, however, allowing Graeme to steady their chase and ultimately reach the target, securing victory by five wickets. ๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐น๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ด๐ผ ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ปโ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป.
In the U15 fixture, Graeme College won the toss and posted a strong total of 210 runs. ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐ถ ๐ ๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฎ stood out with the ball for Union, taking an impressive 3 wickets in 7 overs. In reply, Union’s U15s struggled to build partnerships and were bowled out for 95, with Graeme claiming a 115-run victory.
Well done to all our cricketers for their dedication, teamwork and sportsmanship throughout the season. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ – ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ข ๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ
It was our great honour to host ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ป-๐ฃ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐บ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ, one of the leading emerging pianists of his generation, for a memorable recital in our school hall on Thursday evening, 19 February.
Although only 15 years old, Christiaan-Peter is already studying full-time at the prestigious Hochschule fรผr Musik in Basel, Switzerland, and has an impressive list of awards and achievements to his name.
The recital programme featured masterworks by Beethoven, Schumann, Bartรณk, Liszt and Mozart, offering the audience an evening of depth, brilliance and musical storytelling. ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ฟ๐๐น๐ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ – Christiaan-Peter undoubtedly belongs to the latter.
In the accompanying photograph, he is seen with Union music educator, Mrs Sanette Brink, who shares in our pride and appreciation for an unforgettable evening of music.
Today, Union High School, Graaff-Reinet is proud to recognise Baden-Powell Day (celebrated annually on 22 February) with a special civvies day in support of the Graaff-Reinet Scouts.
We are especially proud of our Union Scouts (๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ 20 ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ต๐ข๐ญ), some of whom are pictured here in their uniforms today, who represent these ideals with commitment and pride.
๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ณ๐๐น ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ and celebrating the spirit of Scouting.
Congratulations to our Union High Schoolswimmers who represented the school at the ๐๐๐ฆ๐ง๐ฅ๐๐๐ง ๐ง๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ฆ this past Saturday, 14 February.
The team delivered a host of outstanding performances, with numerous podium finishes and impressive personal bests. ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฒ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ led the charge with a 1st place finish in the 200m Breaststroke and a string of 2nd place finishes across multiple events. ๐ญ๐ผรซ ๐ ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ and ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ also shone brightly, each claiming victories and consistently placing among the top competitors. Strong performances from ๐จ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ต ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐๐ฒ, ๐๐๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐๐น๐ฎ and ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป further highlighted the depth and strength of our squad.
We now eagerly await the final team announcements, hopeful to see many of our talented athletes earn the opportunity to represent the District at the Provincial Trials in East London on 28 February – ๐ข ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ญ.
RSVP here: https://forms.gle/fteywCjzWGZmnW927
In the accompanying photograph, he is seen with Union music educator, Mrs Sanette Brink, who shares in our pride and appreciation for an unforgettable evening of music.
