Bulletin

Message From The Headmaster

Dear parents & guardians,
RE: Traffic Congestion in Caledon Street and Safety Concerns
Traffic congestion and parking outside of the school grounds, particularly in Caledon Street, is becoming a concern to us.
Parents’ and public transport vehicles are parking illegally, sometimes three abreast at peak times, causing tremendous congestion and frustration to drivers.
Our concern is for the safety of our learners as they cross the street at these times. It is inevitable that should this continue; a learner is going to be struck by a vehicle.
I have witnessed just how inconsiderate some drivers are. There is often adequate parking alongside the pavement, but vehicles remain parked in the middle of the street. We urge parents to comply with traffic laws.
In an effort to alleviate this congestion, we will be releasing Grade 5-7 learners at 13.20 each day, from Wednesday 26 January 2022, and request that parents are timeous in collecting their children and moving on. Grade 8-12 learners will be released at 13.30 as usual.
Yours faithfully,
MR. W.E. PRINGLE
HEADMASTER
Union High School

Bulletin, Cricket

Cricket Festival A Resounding Success

Union High School’s 15th annual Senior Cricket Festival was a huge success with eight schools taking part.

The schools, including Daniël Pienaar Technical High School, Marlow Agricultural High School, Queen’s College Boys’ High School, Stirling High School, Edgemead High School, Milnerton High School and Nico Malan competed over four days and showcased some exciting young talent.

T20s, 50-over encounters and declaration matches were played on Union’s Minnaar and Puttick fields as well as at the Botanics Sports Club and at Hoër Volkskool with each venue’s idyllic setting in the Gem of the Karoo providing the perfect backdrop for cricket at the height of summer.

Great weather over the course of the festival and fantastic camaraderie among the participating schools, ensured that the festival produced a lot of great cricket, while being enjoyed by all concerned!

Union extends its thanks to all participating teams as well as to Hoër Volkskool and the Botanics Sports Grounds for making their facilities available for many of the matches.

 

Congratulations to Skaakir Kazi (6 for 56 in 21 overs during Union’s declaration match against Edgemead High School. He is seen here being congratulated by the match’s umpire Jonathan Crankshaw.

Bulletin, Cultural

Scouts Summit Nardousberg

On Saturday, 15 January, five intrepid Union Scouts – 𝙅𝙅 𝙇𝙞𝙚𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙜, 𝙆𝙮𝙡𝙚 𝙇𝙞𝙚𝙗𝙚𝙣𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙜, 𝙅𝙖𝙮𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙎𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝘼𝙡𝙚𝙭 𝙉𝙚𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘽𝙚𝙣 𝙇𝙚𝙢𝙠𝙚 – took off on a hike up Nardousberg accompanied by Old Unionites John Finlaison and Richard Collett.
Armed with meagre food rations which consisted of a few Pro-vita’s, a cheese wedge, one apple, a power bar, a carrot and as much water as they could carry, they took on the second highest mountain in the Eastern Cape (2400m).
The hike up was tough, but very well handled by the boys. 

They set up camp at the base of the peak at about 21:00 that night after hiking the last section in the dark and thick mist.
The next morning, the group was greeted by stunning 360˚ views as far as the eye could see and a beautiful sunrise. After the short walk to the beacon at the peak to write their names in the record book, they headed back down, mercifully easier, for a lunch of boerewors rolls and reflection of what was a worthy achievement!
These five young men acquitted themselves very well with good manners and a tough spirit and are a credit to themselves, their school and families, well done!
A word of thanks is extended to Mr Bruce Maree, Graaff-Reinet Scoutmaster, for making all the arrangements for the hike and also to Mr Kobus Olivier who once again allowed the Scouts access to this wonderful piece of land!
• 𝘉𝘰𝘺𝘴 (𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 5 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 10) 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 18:30 𝘵𝘰 20:30 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘦 𝘎𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘔𝘳 𝘉𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦, 𝘢𝘵 082 783 7027 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺, 27 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 2022.
Bulletin, Student Life

Grade 8 Orientation

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿!
Union High School’s new Grade 8s started their year with a fun-filled 𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 day.
The aim of this activity is not only to promote positive interaction among the Grade 8 group, but also to establish a relationship of 𝙢𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩 and 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 between the Grade 8s and the school’s prefects.
So, bright and early Thursday morning, 20 January, the excited Grade 8s – accompanied by the guides from the Camdeboo National Park, Union staff members and school prefects – set off on from the school on foot, making their way through the scenic Camdeboo National Park, all the way to the park’s Environmental Education Centre.
Here, the Grade 8s enjoyed lunch after which they engaged in activities with the park’s educational team and then tackled a series of specially designed tasks that facilitated them working together as a grade and co-operating with the senior mentoring system in the school.
This was an excellent opportunity for the senior leaders of the school to get to know their younger charges.
The learners seemed to have a lot of 𝗙𝗨𝗡 while creating a lot of 𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗬 𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 of this exciting phase of their schooling.
Although completely exhausted, the Grade 8s arrived back on campus that afternoon, prepped, excited and ready to embark on the journey of being a senior at Union High School.
Academic, Bulletin

UHS Top Performing Matric Learner 2021

𝗔 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸
Congratulations to James Rose-Innes, who, with six As and one B symbol, is Union High School’s 𝗧𝗢𝗣 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗖 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗥 of 2021.
James received distinctions for Afrikaans FAL, Mathematics, Life Orientation, History, Physical Sciences and Tourism and was a mere 1% short of getting another distinction for English HL.
Interestingly enough, James – the son of Rowan and Hanli Rose-Innes – isn’t the first in his family to achieve such academic excellence.
His olders sisters, Danelle and Monja, also displayed remarkable academic aptitude while at school, both matriculating with a bunch of distinctions to their names.
What is even more remarkable is that all three siblings matriculated with exactly six distinctions and one B symbol each – first Danelle in 2010, then Monja in 2013 and now James in 2021.
While all at Union are delighted by James’ results, we aren’t surprised. James has always been a proactive and focused learner with a clear idea of the direction in which he wants to steer his future. We wish him every success going forward.
𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮, 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘭𝘪, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯
Academic, Bulletin

The Results Are Out!

We are unbelievably proud of our Matric Class of 2021, who, despite spending the majority of their FET academic career clouded in a global pandemic, has achieved a 𝟭𝟬𝟬% 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 with 80% of its matriculants bagging bachelor’s degree passes and the other 20%, diploma passes.

These results place Union first in the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality.
𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴!
Bulletin

We Stand Tall!

On Wednesday, 19 January, Union High School’s new Grade 5s had the privilege of adding their names to Union’s Stand Tall Project – a participatory art installation created through the collective involvement of Union High School’s learners.
With the inspiration behind the project being the habit of parents measuring their children at home, ‘’𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩’ was launched at Union High School last year as an interactive installation that aims to commemorate a learner’s time at Union, by measuring their height at certain intervals during their school career.
Much like the doorframe at home, this wall will record a learner’s growth at their Union home.
Today, the new Grade 5 learners were invited to stand against the wall while their teachers marked off their height. Then, armed with a permanent marker, they labelled it with their name, surname and date.
This installation will gradually have more and more individual markings and names added to it at specific intervals during the school year, which we hope in years to come will create a constellation of measurements blurring the boundaries between art and everyday life.