As the start of Founders’ Weekend early this morning ushered in a day of reflection and celebration, we found ourselves wrapped in the warmth of gratitude and admiration.
๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐’ ๐๐ฎ๐ – ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ – ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐น๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น๐’ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐, marking not just the passage of time but the profound impact of the men and women who had the vision that led to the creation of the school back in 1919, and who have contributed to the leadership and vision of the school since.
None of the education for which the school has become known would have happened without the foresight of these individuals, who set out with the express intention of developing a school which would provide an excellent education for children in Graaff-Reinet. We owe them a debt of gratitude – without them, this fine school simply would not exist – and this is why we honour them on Foundersโ Day each year.
๐ช๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ, ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐นโ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐’ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐น๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ’๐ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐.
The ceremony commenced with a warm welcome from the headmaster, Mr William Pringle, who also led a brief devotional. Following his address, the learners of Union High School, Graaff-Reinet, filled the hall with a heartfelt rendition of the school song.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐บ ๐๐ช๐ด๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ช ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ญ ๐๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ข ๐๐ฆ๐ธ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ 7 ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐บ๐ญ๐ข ๐๐ต๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ค๐ค๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ.
A special congratulatory message was the delivered by Union Preparatory School, Graaff-Reinet learners Paballo Mabapa and Christian-Ross Maya.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ๐, the learners eagerly exited the hall to enjoy their doughnuts and partake in the festive activities planned for Founders’ Weekend 2026.
