Academic, Bulletin

Learner Excels In Book Review Competition

Learners from all seven municipal regions within the Sarah Baartman district gathered in Addo on Thursday morning, 5 March, to compete on a district-level in a national reading competition.

This was the third round of a competition held to commemorate the 2020 SA Library Week, organised by the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts & Culture.

Avid reader James Rose-Innes – a Grade 11 learner at Union High School – managed to outperform his competitors in the first two rounds of the competition to claim the honour of representing the Dr Beyers Naudé municipal region at this event.

James competed in the Book Review category which assessed the learners’ reading and comprehension abilities. Here he was given two minutes to review the book ‘Things Fall Apart’ by Chinua Achebe.

James made the municipality and school exceptionally proud with his performance, placing third overall in the district.

James received a laptop bag, pen and wristwatch for his efforts.

Well done, James!

Athletics, Sport Results

Jnr Interschools Athletics

Union youngsters win annual interschools athletics

The annual primary interschools athletics event between the Union Schools and Laer Volkskool was held on Tuesday afternoon, 3 March.  The meet took place at Laer Volkskool.

The competition was stiff as the learners faced off in various items such as long jump, high jump, shot put, sprints, long distance running and relays.

Union’s athletes, however, were determined to make their mark in their respective track and field events and their ‘never-say-die’ attitude and their resolve on the track and field shone through.

Their determination saw Union collecting 653 points to win the encounter against Volkskool (605).

“The conditions were perfect for the participating athletes and they delivered some of the best performances seen in years,” said Mr Floris Steenkamp, Union’s Junior Sports Administrator.

“It was clear that our athletes prepared well for their events and that their spirit was unwavering. A big congratulations must go to all our learners who competed with amazing sportsmanship and pride – we are extremely proud of you.”

The event was excellently hosted by Laer Volkskool and Union thanks them for their efforts!

• Noteworthy performances on the day, include:

𝐮/𝟕:
– Grade 1 learner Taylor Jacobs won the Girls u/7 60m and 80m events. Emma Burger joined her on the podium both times in 3rd and 2nd place respectively.
– Uthmaan Steel won the Boys u/7 60m and 80m events, with Raydon Herndricks coming in third in both races.

𝐮/𝟖:
– The Girls u/8 60m event saw Hayle Krige coming in second and Lisa Kungawo coming in third. Lisa, however claimed the win in the 80m race, with Hayle coming in a close second.

𝐮/𝟗:
– Abonani Matushe came in second in the Girls u/9 60m event, followed by Miley Burger in third place. When it came to the 80m event, Abonani was first to cross the finish line.
– Jordan Maritz came second in both the Boys u/9 60m and 80m events.

𝐮/𝟏𝟎:
– Mia Botha came second in the Girls u/10 80m and 100m events and first in the 1200m race.
– Ethan Raath came in third in the Boys u/10 100m race and third in the 1200m.
– Emma Watson, who celebrated her birthday, came in second in the Girls u/10 Long Jump, followed by Alyssa Trollip in third place. Emma also won the High Jump event, with Alyssa coming in third.
– Owen Paxton came in second in the Boys u/10 Long Jump and High Jump events with Quinn Naude coming in third in both events. Owen also came in second in the Boys u/10 1200m.
– Kyla Putter won the Girls u/10 Shot Put, followed by Nadine Murray in second place. Nadine also came in second in the Girls u/10 1200m.
– Tristan Naude claimed second place in the Boys u/10 Shot Put.

𝐮/𝟏𝟏:
– Lulinke Vumazonke came third in the Boys u/11 80m event as well as in the 100m race.
– The Girls u/11 High Jump was dominated by Union, with Jasmine Abercrombie coming in first, Zoe Hobson second and Grace Kemp third.
– It was 3 for 3 for Union in the Boys u/11 High Jump as well, with Liso Sobantu coming in first, Dwayne Koeberg second and Warren Barlow third.
– Grace Kemp claimed third place in the Girls u/11 Shot Put as well as in the 1200m.
– Junior de Bruyn won the Boys u/11 Shot Put with Richard Murray coming in second.
– Warren Barlow came in third in the Boys u/11 1200m.

𝐮/𝟏𝟐:
– Jamae-Mari Davids came in second in the Girls u/12 100m, first in the Girls u/12 Long Jump, third in the High Jump and third in the 1200m.
– Josh Arends came third in the Boys u/12 100m.
– Anna Bouwer came second in the Girls u/12 150m, followed by Katelyn Trollip in third place. Anna also came first in the Girls u/12 High Jump and third in the Long Jump, while Katelyn claimed second place in the Shot Put.
– Peter-Daniel Clegg came second in the Boys u/12 150m, followed by Liso Booi in third place. Peter-Daniel also came third in the Long Jump, while Liso claimed another third place in the High Jump.
– Tara Ferreira came in second in the Girls u/12 High Jump and third in the Shot Put.
– Xarah Hoffman won the Girls u/12 Shot Put.
– The Boys u/12 Shot Put was won by Siba Mbuyte.
– Daisy Sears won the Girls u/12 1200m, followed by Leigh-Ann Murray in second place.
– Josh Arends came third in the Boys u/12 1200m.

𝐮/𝟏𝟑:
– Lisa Menos won the Girls u/13 100m, while the Boys u/13 100m was won by Lukhana Kettledas in first, Matthew Paxton in second and Shaakir Kazi in third place.
– The Girls u/13 200m event was also won by Lisa Menos, with Zelresch Frazenburg in second place and Aaminah Steele in third place.
– Lukhana Kettledas won the Boys u/13 200m and Long Jump events, with Matthew Paxton coming in second in both events and Xavier Barlow coming in third in the Long Jump.
– Farronique Booysen came in second in the Girls u/13 Long jump.
– Lisa Menos won the Girls u/13 High Jump, followed by Farronique Booysen in second place and Aaminah Steel in third place.
– Nate Jaftha ended third in the Boys u/13 High Jump.
– Anna-May Hayes came in second in the Girls u/13 Shot Put, followed by Uyathanda Sididi in third place.
– Matthew Paxton claimed third place in the Boys u/13 Shot Put.
– Lisa Menos came first in the Girls u/13 800m. She also claimed first place in the 1500m, with Keza Neill coming in third.
– Matthew Paxton came in first in the Boys u/13 800m and 1500m. Lukhanya Kettledas claimed third place in the 800m.

Bulletin

Matric Farewell 2020

On Wednesday evening, 18 March, the Botanics Sports Club will host one of the most exciting and glamorous nights of the year for Union High School’s bright-eyed soon-to-be high school graduates – the 2020 Matric Farewell.

The school extends and invitation to all those interested, to come and watch as the youngsters arrive at the event, emerging in their red carpet worthy outfits from rumbling hot rods, Italian exotics, supercars and the classics, to the dazzle of camera flashes, cheering and ululating crowds.

• Viewing tickets are available at R30 each from Mrs Elsebe Moos at Union High School’s reception.

Sport Results, Tennis

Snr Tennis – Fichardtpark McDonalds Sports Day

Union tennis aces compete in Bloem

On Thursday, 27 February, Union High School’s Top 8 tennis boys and girls hit the road to Bloemfontein, to participate in the Fichardtpark McDonalds Sports Day, hosted by Hoërskool Fichardtpark.

This annual tournament is a highlight on Union’s tennis calendar, and, as always, an incredibly high standard of tennis was evident throughout the competition.

• Boys

Despite a very early start on Friday, the boys were extremely enthusiastic and took to the courts ready to show off their strategies and ball skills in one of the most popular games in the world.

Brent Hesselink got the competition off to a great start for the boys’ second team, winning Union’s very first match of the day.

This seemed to boost his team members’ confidence and the boys continued to produce great tennis throughout the day.

The boys’ first team fared just as well and delivered some really exciting tennis. Congratulations are extended to Matthew Hesselink who won all his singles matches, as well as to doubles duo, Brett Amsterdam and Bowen Langmead, who dominated the court, going unbeaten on the day.

Both the boys’ first and second teams produced really competitive tennis throughout the day and must be commended on their great sportsmanship and never-say-die attitude.

Overall, the boys’ first team ended second in their section, with the second team ending third in theirs.

• Girls

Union’s spirited girls’ first team was divided into a pool that featured some very strong competition.

But, even though they had to face some intimidating tennis heavyweights, the girls never got discouraged, giving it their all on the courts in every single encounter.

The girls tied for third place in their pool, and upon conclusion of the day’s play, placed 8th overall in the ‘A’ section.

The girls’ second team also enjoyed a very competitive day on the courts and ended the tournament having placed 15th out of the 19 schools entered in the ‘B’ section.

The girls displayed a lot of grit on the courts and Union High School thanks them for their efforts.

Sport Results, Swimming

Top 8 Gala Results

On Friday evening, 28 February, seven Union High School swimmers participated in the Top 8 Invitational Gala at the Newton Park Swimming Pool in Port Elizabeth.

The Top 8 Gala is the culmination of the season’s ‘B’ Age Group Galas where the region’s top 8 swimmers in each age group and each stroke are selected to participate.

The atmosphere at the pool was, as always, very festive, with great camaraderie, friendly rivalry and good sportsmanship prevailing among the different schools.

As is tradition, the evening started with a poolside parade of all the teams, during which the Union swimmers proudly displayed their school flag as they made their way around the pool.

Throughout the evening that followed, Union’s swimmers gave it their all and managed to obtain six medals overall.

Congratulations to:

• Hannah Bodenstein who claimed gold in the 50m Backstroke and Hugo Botha who came first in the 50m Breaststroke,

• Elia Railton and Amber Binney who won silver in the 50m Backstroke and 100m Freestyle respectively, and;

• James Potgieter who took home bronze in both the 50m Backstroke and 50m Breaststroke.

Union High School is exceptionally proud of all of you!

The gala was hugely successful for Union, not only in terms of medals, but in times as well as six new personal bests (this included new PBs for first-timers, Mia and Hugo Botha) were also recorded!

This meet is always a wonderful competition with which to end off a very busy swimming season and we thank everyone involved for making it such a memorable event.

All our learners can be very proud of what they achieved and we look forward to seeing what next season holds in store for our Union swimmers!

• Union High School would like to extend a special word of thanks to Stefan and Andrea Ittershagen-Strauss who, very generously, hosted the swimmers for the night in Port Elizabeth.

They treated the learners to a great dinner and breakfast, and made sure that their evening was fun and relaxed.