Hockey, Sport Results

Jnr Hockey Results – UHS vs Sunridge Primary

In their encounter against Sunridge Primary School in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, 13 April, Union’s young hockey teams delivered the following results:

The junior third team won 2 – 0, while the junior second team won 1 – 0 and the junior first team lost 1 – 3.

The junior first team was unfortunate to lose, but learnt a lot.  The game was played in wonderful weather and a friendly spirit.  The first half saw the Union girls pushing themselves in applying tactics they have learned these past few weeks.  Sunridge was, however, first in breaking past their opponents’ defence to score a goal.  Although it was a struggle to, in turn, break past Sunridge’s defence, Union managed it successfully to score a goal – shared by Chloe Erasmus and Leshay Fourie.  The first half ended with the score tied at 1 – 1.

In the second half, the Union team strived to make a breakthrough, but did not succeed.  They soon lost concentration as well as their perspective of the game.  Struggling to pick up the pieces, they allowed Sunridge to convert the score to 1 – 3.  The game ended with Union going down 1 – 3 to Sunridge.

Although the girls lost, the match gave them a fair idea of the areas they need to work on so that they can make the most of the season that lies ahead.

Hockey, Sport Results

Snr Hockey Results – UHS vs VP

Spectators witnessed an extravaganza of goals, when Union’s senior hockey girls competed against Port Elizabeth’s Victoria Park High School (VP) on Saturday, 13 April.

What turned out to be a clean sweep for the teams, started with the U/16B team putting 6 unanswered goals past VP’s defence.

The U/16A team then took to the turf and struggled to find momentum at first with what seemed to be a lack of enthusiasm. It took them 30 minutes to finally break through VP’s defence, but this then seemed to put the spark back into their play – they then continued to press and put a further 5 goals in the back of the net which gave them a convincing 6 – 0 victory in the end.

The 2nd team, too, had a good day on the field as they cruised to a 7 – 1 victory.

Goals didn’t seem hard to come by as the 1st team started their encounter with goals in the 3rd and 6th minute of the 1st quarter by Laetitia Theron.  Sara Kingwill increased Union’s lead to 3 – 0 with a goal in the 2nd quarter.  VP scored a goal in the 3rd quarter and also starved Union of any scoring opportunities during this period.  The 4th quarter saw Rosslyn Sparks and Sara Kingwill each scoring, to put an end to what was a good entertaining encounter. The match ended with the score standing at 5 – 1 in Union’s favour.

“The girls must be congratulated on their results, as well as for remaining humble in their victory and treating their opponents with respect,” said coach Alvin August.

“The girls have a few tough encounters lying ahead and they will need to put in maximum effort to ensure good results.”

Rugby, Sport Results

Snr Rugby Results – UHS vs VP

This past Saturday, 13 April, Union hosted Victoria Park High School (VP) from Port Elizabeth for the two schools’ annual rugby and hockey derby.  The positive atmosphere around the campus and the great support for all of Union’s teams ensured that UHS completely dominated the fixture.

All the teams played at a high intensity level and showcased the high quality brand of rugby Union is known for.

U/14A team won 50 – 17
U/15A team won 26 – 7
U/16A team won 55 – 12
3rd team lost 25 – 17 against Asherville Secondary School’s first team
2nd team won 41 – 19 against VP

These incredible performances from all the Union teams set a high benchmark for the 1st XV game which was to follow.

There was also a lot riding on this match, with the school’s “Mighty Whites” owing the community a better performance after last weekend’s loss against Muir College.  Three minutes into the game, Union was first to cross the whitewash through Luke McNaughton picking up a lose ball and running half the field to get Union onto the scoreboard.  A few minutes later, the forwards set up a good maul, with Zusakhe Ngwane dotting down to increase Union’s lead to 12 – 0.  Victoria Park bounced back and scored when Union was two players down due to ill discipline.  Ten minutes before half time, the Union team was back to their full contingent of players and took control of the game once again.  Good continuity and setting up phases, resulted in Gary Shell scoring Union’s third try, taking Union’s lead to 17 – 7 at the break.

In the second half, Jaden Brotherton and Brett Amsterdam used the conditions perfectly, ensuring that most of the play took place in VP’s 22m area.  Union, once again, scored first in this half, through Gary Shell from good trick play off a lineout.  VP hit back with a penalty a few minutes later, taking the score to 24 – 10 in Union’s favour.

Amazing attacking play, running lines and interlinking between backs and forwards saw Union score three more tries by Bowen Langmead, Khwezi Simon and Lihle Mxhunyelwa.  Jaden Brotherton successfully converted all three.

A lapse in concentration and turning our backs on the opposition led to VP scoring towards the end of the game.  The final score was 45 – 17 in Union’s favour.  Union High School’s try scorers were Gary Shell (2), Luke McNaughton, Zusakhe Ngwane, Bowen Langmead, Khwezi Simon and Lihle Mxhunyelwa, with Jaden Brotherton successfully converting 5 from the 7.

All in all, it was a wonderful day for Union rugby and a good comeback by the 1st XV.

Academic, Bulletin

Learners Introduced to the Culinary Arts

On Wednesday, 10 April, Olive Chef School – one of the top culinary arts schools in South Africa – paid a visit to Union High School.  During their interaction with our learners, executive chef Rinette Enslin proceeded to demonstrate the fine art of French cuisine.

Within 45 minutes, chef Rinette had prepared an exquisite looking three course meal, creating spectacular plates of food that were a delight to the eyes as well as the taste buds!  When asked how much such a meal would cost, learners were quite flabbergasted when chef Rinette answered “about R750”, after which she then explained how costing is done.

Olive Chef School – situated in Bloemfontein – is an internationally approved culinary school and their chef training courses are second to none.

The following are some of the career opportunities which formal, certificated studies in culinary education at Olive Chef School can afford you: chef, caterer, food stylist, hotel chef de cuisine, hotel food and beverage manager, test kitchen, restaurant manager and kitchen manager.

For those of our learners who are considering a career in the culinary arts, we hope you were inspired by this delicious presentation and that it has helped you in making an informed decision about your future.

Academic, Bulletin, Eco-Schools

Fun With Structures

Union’s Grade 7s are learning about natural and man-made structures in Technology this term.

Earlier this week, using spaghetti and marshmallows, students experimented with different structures to determine which ones are able to handle the greatest amount of load. This experiment helped them to further understand the effects that compression and tension forces have with respect to the strength of structures. Spaghetti cannot hold much tension or compress…ion; therefore, it breaks very easily. Marshmallows handle compression well but do not hold up to tension.

At the Union schools, we are thankful for small class sizes that allow teachers the opportunity to successfully conduct these experiments. Teachers are able to be actively involved with everything the learners do, resulting in increased participation and better communication between the teacher and the learners.

Bulletin, Cultural

Music Teachers’ Conference

The 97th annual national conference for the South African Society of Music Teachers (SASMT) was recently attended by Union’s Department of Music staff, Mmes. Sanette Brink, Zelda van Rooyen and Karmin van der Walt.

2019 marked the first time in almost 40 years that this prestigious event was hosted in Port Elizabeth.

According to Lestie Hughes, who chairs the Port Elizabeth branch of SASMT, the conference – a musical event of note, based on music education but structured to provide enjoyment to all lovers of music – has not taken place in the Bay since the 1980s.

The theme for this year’s event, which was held from 14 to 16 March in the auditorium on the Nelson Mandela University’s South Campus, was ‘Let the music speak’.  The conference’s programme included musical performances by the staff and learners of 10 Bay schools and some of NMU’s finest musicians as well as ‘hands-on’ choral and orchestra workshops.

Presentations and panel discussions on relevant topics such as music technology and the effective incorporation of contemporary music into the school curriculum were discussed and much-enjoyed by the Union conference-goers.

Bulletin

Building Improvements

At the Union schools, we firmly believe that a well-maintained school provides a safe and attractive learning environment for students. In keeping with this, the school is continually improving its facilities – from the classroom to the sports fields. At present, the school is repainting the school’s exterior facing the sports fields to give it a fresh and well-cared-for look.

Bulletin, Eco-Schools, Student Life

2nd Term Blood Drive

Learners and teachers each waited their turn to donate blood to the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) at Union High School on Tuesday morning, 9 April.

The regular blood drives at the school are aimed at fostering a culture of blood donation among the young learners and increasing the amount of blood donated in South Africa.Over the years, our learners – who always support the blood drives enthusiastically – have saved thousands of lives with this valuable contribution to the community.

Today, we hope to reach our target of 60 units.

• The SANBS also hosts a blood drive in Graaff-Reinet every second Monday afternoon of the month, between 14:00 and 18:00, at the Te Water Hall in Bourke Street. Those who are able, are encouraged to give blood and in so doing, save a life.

Anyone who is over 16, weighs over 50kg and who practices a healthy lifestyle can donate. When you donate one unit of blood you can save up to three lives, as blood is separated into red blood cells, plasma and platelets.

Bulletin, Eco-Schools

Juggling to Concentrate

Mention juggling in schools and most people probably think of balancing tasks and commitments, not of tossing balls into the air.

Research, however, has shown that juggling real objects increases a learners’ ability to concentrate, enhances their eye-hand coordination, and builds self-confidence.

On Monday morning, 8 April, an English Instruction Task, “Juggling”, saw the school’s Grade 5s practicing this skill on the school’s sports grounds and having a lot of fun while doing so.

Sport Results, Tennis

Jnr Tennis vs LVS

Monday afternoon, 8 April, saw Union’s top junior players facing Laer Volkskool in, what turned out to be, a very closely-contested bout of tennis.  The UHS junior girls proved superior on the day, beating Volkskool with 6 matches to 3.

The junior boys, who could, unfortunately, only field three of their regular first team players, lost their encounter with 3 games to Volkskool’s 6.  All the players put forth their best efforts on the day and certainly did the school proud.

Well done girls!