Academic Opportunities

EXTERNAL EXAMINATIONS

To stimulate academic activity and to accentuate its importance, pupils are entered in various competitive examinations.

Academic events include the junior and senior Taalbond exams which promote bilingualism; the English, accounting, maths, computer, typing and science Olympiads; and the Rhodes University Science Festival. Music pupils enter the Unisa and Royal Schools' exams as well as various eisteddfods.

The Top Level Club exposes scholars to aspects of knowledge not usually covered in the curriculum. For pupils who need further help, extra classes are provided in differing subjects.

ACADEMIC FACILITIES

A media centre with access to internet for all senior and junior pupils
A well-stocked library
Audio-visual lecture theatre
Separate laboratories for science and biology
Fully-equipped Computer Room for Computer Applications Technology
A hall with facilities for drama and film screenings

 

EXCHANGE PROGRAMME

For a term every year, a unique exchange programme allows two Union pupils to swop the plains and rocky koppies of the Karoo for the limpid green fields of England.

In 1993, Union set up a Grade 7 pupil exchange with Salisbury Cathedral School. The following year, for one term, the first Salisbury exchange student came to Union to stay with a matching school family. The following term, the Union host pupil went to Salisbury and attended the Cathedral School. Since then, many boys and girls have enjoyed this wonderful opportunity.

They gain new perspectives – on history, for instance (the Salisbury Cathedral school is 930 years old). Returning pupils call the exchange "the experience of a lifetime" and say they wish it had never ended. For some, it need not end immediately. Post-Matric students can apply to return to the Cathedral School as gap students, thereby consolidating their early experiences.

Over the years, a special group has developed in Salisbury, known as The South African Connection. The students and their family members who boast such a connection meet for special events. Apparently, membership of this group is highly sought after!