Dear parents/guardians,
Please take note that the Annual General Meeting, at which the ๐จ๐ก๐๐ข๐ก ๐ฆ๐๐๐ข๐ข๐๐ฆ’ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฏ ๐๐จ๐๐๐๐ง will be presented to parents, will be held on Monday evening, 14 November, in the Tony Burrell Union.
๐๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด/๐จ๐ถ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ง ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ.
Grade 8 learner ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ participated in a competitive endurance ride on Waterlea Farm in the Hofmeyr district this past weekend (Friday and Saturday, 4 and 5 November).
Tristan did well to complete the 80km course on Friday successfully and finished strong by winning the 40km course on Saturday with a time of 1 hour, 54 minutes (averaging 21km an hour).
On Thursday evening, 20 October, the Class of 2022 was officially inducted into the ranks of the Old Unionite Association (OUA).
This annual event, where the Grade 12s are presented with their OUA membership cards, sees all the matrics gather for what might most-likely be one of the very last times they will be spending time together socially as a class.
๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐บ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ, ๐๐ญ๐ฅ ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ.
The Grade 12s were welcomed by Headmaster Mr William Pringle, ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ช๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ง ๐ ๐ค๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ฃ๐ก๐๐๐จ๐ค๐ฃ (๐๐๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ค๐ฎ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐พ๐ก๐๐จ๐จ ๐ค๐ 1999).
Mr Finlaison shared with the learners some special words of wisdom, calling on them to uphold the high moral standards the school stands for and encouraging them to always support and return to their Alma Mater and to remember the values instilled in them during their school years at the Union Schools.
The event culminated in each Grade 12 learner receiving a gift from the Old Unionite Association and enjoying some refreshments.
Several of our Union High School, Graaff-Reinet junior swimmers competed in the ๐๐ก๐ง๐๐ฅ-๐๐๐ฆ๐ง๐ฅ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ on Tuesday, 1 November, where the top swimmers in the Karoo, Albany and Amathola districts gather annually to test their mettle in the water.
๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ธ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ป๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ด. They were awarded their medals at this morning’s whole-school assembly.
๐๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ:
โข ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ต๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐น๐ณ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฎ๐ป โ 3rd in both Girls u/11 50m Backstroke and Breaststroke, 1st in Girls u/11 4x50m Medley Relay and 2nd in Girls u/11 4x50m Freestyle Relay.
โข ๐๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ โ 2nd in Boys u/11 50m Freestyle and 1st in both Boys u/11 4x50m Medley and Freestyle Relays.
โข ๐ญ๐ผรซ ๐ ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ โ 3rd in both Girls u/12 4x50m Medley and Freestyle Relays.
โข ๐๐น๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ฝ โ 2nd in Girls u/12 50m Butterfly, 3rd in both Girls u/12 4x50m Medley and Freestyle Relays.
โข ๐ข๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ป โ 3rd in Boys u/12 50m Breaststroke and 50m Freestyle, 1st in Boys u/12 4x50m Medley Relay and 2nd in Boys u/12 4x50m Freestyle Relay.
โข ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐๐บ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ โ 2nd in Boys u/13 4x50m Freestyle Relay.
For generations, the traditional derby days between Union High School, Graaff-Reinet and Hoรซr Volkskool Graaff-Reinet that conclude the winter and summer sporting seasons have served as the annual highlights of friendship, rivalry and competition for these two schools.
๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ค๐ค๐ก ๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง’๐จ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐จ๐๐๐จ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐๐ข๐ ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ, ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ 18๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ช๐๐ก ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ๐๐๐ค๐ค๐ก๐จ ๐ผ๐ฉ๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฃ๐ค๐ค๐ฃ, 26 ๐๐๐ฉ๐ค๐๐๐ง.
๐ช๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก๐ to the Union athletes who claimed a total of 17 first places, 20 second places and 17 third places.
โข A special word of ๐๐ข๐ก๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก๐ฆ goes to Ben Lemke who set a new record of 2:24,89 in the Boys u/14 800m event!
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐:
โข Sade May, Girls u/16 โ 100m (14,77s), 200m (31,07s) and 400m (1:17,86s)
โข Josh Arends, Boys u/14 โ 100m (12,12s), 200m (25,36s) and Long jump (5,56m)
โข Joshua Basson, Boys u/16 โ 200m (24,5s), 400m (5:23,5) and 1 500m (58,7s)
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐:
โข Leigh-Ann Murray, Girls u/14 – 100m (14,47s)
โข Misha Newton, Girls u/14 – 800m (2:50,8)
โข Farronique Booysen, Girls u/14 – Long jump (4,08m)
โข Musa Zweni, Girls u/17 โ Shotput (9,3m), Discus (15,68m)
โข Xavier Barlow, Boys u/15 – 200m (25,17s)
โข Jude Langmead, Boys u/17 โ Discus (27,97m)
๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐๐ฐ๐บ!
On Saturday, 29 October, the Union Schools attended the first B Age Group Gala of the swimming season in Gqeberha, with 17 of our prep, middle and high school swimmers competing.
๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฝ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ช๐ฅ ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ค๐ค๐ก ๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ข ๐๐ฃ 2020, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ฌ๐๐ข๐ข๐๐ง๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ง๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐๐.
Taking into consideration that they have only had two practices in the schoolโs newly renovated swimming pool to prepare themselves, they delivered some fine results and finishes.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐: Gerda Clarke, Rebecca Copeman, Brogan Koeberg, Jourdan-Bethany Koeberg, Ben Lemke, Daniel Marais, Micha Murray, Liyabona Nkomo and Lisakhanya Zonke.
๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ!
This past weekend saw some of Union High School, Graaff-Reinetโs top junior boys and girls tennis players represent their school at MatchPoint Tennis Academy’s annual ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ก ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ง contested in Graaff-Reinet.
๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐จ๐๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐จ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐๐จ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐ค๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฝ๐ก๐ค๐๐ข๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ค ๐๐๐ฎ๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐จ.
As is always the case at this tournament, the competition was very strong, but all our players rose to the challenge and played very good tennis. It was a great experience and the players certainly benefitted by being exposed to tennis of such a high standard.
Both teams ended 5th upon conclusion of play.
๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐น๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฆโ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ – ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด.
The following Union biathletes represented the Eastern Province at the 25th EP Interprovincial on, Sunday, 30 October, in Gqeberha, where they ๐๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ๐๐๐ง๐ฃ ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐, ๐ฝ๐ค๐ง๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ. These learners have shown such grit and determination in both their training and their racing, and weโre thrilled to see the fruits of their labour paying off.
Union extends a heartfelt ๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ to their coach, Mrs Claire Lemke, and the parents of these learners who supported their children in both the holiday training schedule and the long distances that they travel in order to cheer the whole team on.
๐๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ Ben Lemke, Samantha Gilfillan, Misha Newton, Rebecca Copeman, Mecoli Vorster, Miley Burger, Taylor Jacobs, Allison Gilfillan and Angelique Kyanda-Kaboza.
