Academic, Bulletin

Self-reflection

The Grade 9s in Mrs Bronwen Langmead’s Creative Arts class, studied the art of Portraiture during a recent lesson.

This activity helps learners better understand the difference between drawing from life and drawing from a photograph.

Through the process of putting forth time and effort, they came to see they can create realistic portraits successfully. It was a “wow” moment for all the learners involved!

[The learners impressive creations can be seen displayed in the UHS main quad, if you’re nearby do pop round to have a look!]

Academic, Bulletin

Gr 8 Graffiti

The first few weeks of Grade 8 can be overwhelming, exciting, daunting and ‘cool’ all at once!

In Arts and Culture, the Grade 8s studied graffiti and lettering and then had to choose a word which best described their first few weeks at Union.

They worked really hard and produced magnificent results!

Academic, Bulletin

SAOU Training For Staff

On Thursday afternoon, 6 February, Union educators Mmes Helane Keyser, Kiki Nell, Hanli Rose-Innes and Jenny Street attended a training session hosted by the SAOU in Graaff-Reinet, themed ‘Barriers to Learning in the Inclusive Classroom’.

During this training session particular attention was given to the following most common barriers to learning that manifests itself in classrooms: ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, autism and auditory processing disorder (APD).

Particular focus was placed on strategies to support learners with these barriers in the inclusive classroom.

Academic, Bulletin

Math Whiz Matthew!

Matthew McNaughton, a Grade 10 learner at Union High School, recently proved himself to be a math whiz during the 2019 South African Mathematics Olympiad (SAMO).

Matthew, who participated in the competition last year as a Grade 9 learner in the junior division, earned himself a spot under the Top 10 junior learners in the Eastern Cape!

Matthew was recently honoured by the South African Mathematics Foundation (SAMF) with a certificate for his outstanding performance.

[The South African Mathematics Olympiad (SAMO) is South Africa’s biggest Olympiad. Close to 100 000 high school learners across the country participate annually.]

Well done Matthew!

Academic, Bulletin, Student Life

Gr 9s Learn About Contours

In Social Sciences yesterday (Tuesday, 21 January), Union’s Grade 9s discovered for themselves how the concept of contours is applied.

After drawing the contour lines onto their ‘butternut mountains’ using increasing water levels for accuracy, it became clear to them how contours are an ingenious tool to describe the physical landscape on maps.

The butternuts were made into a hearty soup afterwards!

 

Academic, Academic Awards, Bulletin

Academic Awards

ACADEMIC AWARDS – 17 JANUARY 2020

(Based on the results of 2019)

ACADEMIC BARS

GRADE 6 (Based on Grade 5 results of 2019)

Amber Bezuidenhout

Ciara Kivedo

Anebel Norval

Josh Arends

Samantha Charles

Bradley Davenport

Jade Palmer

Katelyn Trollip

 

GRADE 7 (Based on Grade 6 results of 2019)

Sasha Cochrane

Tara Ferreira

Zara Douman-Deysel
(Re-award)

Erin Gedult (Re-award)

Megan Nortjé (Re-award)

Matthew Paxton
(Re-award)

Emma Short (Re-award)

 

GRADE 8 (Based on Grade 7 results of 2019)

Terry Mabuni

Jayden Swart

Charlize Vorster

Na’eem Mahomed
(Re-award)

Caytah-Leigh Koeberg
(Re-award)

Sadé May (Re-award)

 

ACADEMIC TIES

GRADE 9 (Based on Grade 8 results of 2019)

Cadee Arends

Lana Bouwer

Siyamthanda Desha

Tayla Kingwill

Siphosethu Malotana

Gemma Naude

Brigette Oelofsen

Anna Pringle

Soyana Sinazo

Caitrin Spence

Trinity West

 

GRADE 10 (Based on Grade 9 results of 2019)

Kathryn Odendaal

Matthew Basson
(Re-award)

Amber Binney
(Re-award)

Hannah Bodenstein
(Re-award)

Kendall Krige
(Re-award)

Matthew McNaughton
(Re-award)

Chloe Shires
(Re-award)

 

HALF COLOURS / FULL COLOURS

GRADE 11 (Based on Grade 10 results of 2019)

GRADE 12 (Based on Grade 11 results of 2019)

Half colours

Meghan Basson

Sakhe Booi

Erin Mitchell

Micaela te water Naude

 

 

Full colours

Matthew Hesselink
(Re-award)

Katherine Imrie
(Re-award)

Sara Kingwill
(Re-award)

Bowen Langmead
(Re-award)

Laetitia Theron
(Re-award)

Deger Williams
(Re-award)

 

Click here to view our Academic Awards Policy

Academic, Bulletin

UHS Welcomes New Teachers

Union High School kicked off its 101st year on Wednesday, 15 January, with the arrival of three new members of staff who joined the Union family.

Union extends a warm welcome to:

Union is proud to have these new teachers on board – their enthusiasm for teaching and their commitment to their learners’ well-being makes them a wonderful addition to the school.

We have no doubt the difference they will make in the lives of learners and to the field of education at Union.

Academic, Bulletin

UHS Top Academic Achievers – 2019

With the 2019 school year done and dusted, the top academic achievers for the year has been determined.

These learners have put in an extensive amount of effort in the pursuit of academic excellence and Union High School thanks them for their dedication to their studies and congratulate them on this achievement.

A word of thanks is also extended to the learners’ relevant educators for their efforts and to the parents of these learners for the support they provided.

The top academic achievers in Grade 11 are:
1. Laetitia Theron
2. Katherine Imrie
3. Sara Kingwill
4. Bowen Langmead
5. Déger Williams
6. Matthew Hesselink
7. Sakhe Booi;  Meghan Basson;  Micaela Te Water Naudé;  Erin Mitchell
11. Daniël McNaughton
12. Brett Amsterdam
13. William Kayster
14. Jade Shires;  Jeanne-Marie Brummer

The top academic achievers in Grade 10 are:
1. James Rose-Innes
2. Hannah Watermeyer
3. Kyle-Luke du Preez
4. Melissa Swart
5. Amzolele Relu
6. James Pringle;  Michaela Price
8. Mekisha Manzana;  James Pienaar
10. Jarrod Naudé
11. Litha Mngoma
12. Sayma Wajid;  Zoë May
14. Shayna Japhta;  Rogan Odendaal

The top academic achievers in Grade 9 are:
1. Matthew Basson
2. Kendall Krige & Hannah Bodenstein
4. Amber Binney
5. Kathryn Odendaal;  Matthew McNaughton
7. Chloe Shires
8. Michelle Doyle
9. Lauren Waddelow
10. Ruzhe Hendricks
11. Alexandra Imrie;  Marli Brummer;  Asa Matross;  Mohamed Ashiq Hartley;  Grace Merifield;  Simamkele Soyana

The top academic achievers in Grade 8 are:
1. Caitrin Spence
2. Siphosethu Malotana
3. Cadee Arends
4. Brigette Oelofsen
5. Tayla Kingwill;  Trinity West;  Gemma Naudè
8. Anna Pringle
9. Sinazo Soyana;  Lana Bouwer
11. Siyamthanda Desha
12. Jenna-Lee Jansen
13. Andrue Victor
14. Brent Hesselink;  Simonè Prinsloo

The top academic achievers in Grade 7 are:
1. Na’eem Mahomed
2. Caytah-Leigh Koeberg
3. Charlize Vorster
4. Sadè May
5. Terry Mabuni
6. Jaden Swart
7. Tyra Binney;  Joshua Neill
9. Johannes du Plessis
10. Max Price;  Alinda Goosen
12. Bontle Mashiane;  Joshua Basson;  Owethu Singeni
15. Ann-Noleen Koeberg;  Matthew Davenport

The top academic achievers in Grade 6 are:
1. Emma Short
2. Megan Nortje;  Tara Ferreira;  Erin Gedult
5. Matthew Paxton
6. Zara Deysel-Douman
7. Sasha Cochrane
8. Alastair Imrie
9. Hayden Pienaar;  Cullan Erasmus;  Kenza Neill
12. Muhammad Ahmed;  Aaminah Steele
14. Anna-May Hayes
15. Alexander Neill

The top academic achievers in Grade 5 are:
1. Katelyn Trollip;  Bradley Davenport;  Ciara Kivedo
4. Josh Arends;  Jade Palmer;  Anabel Norval
7. Samantha Charles
8. Amber Bezuidenhout
9. Misha Newton
10. Taegen Hamid
11. Lisa Vutula
12. Daniël Short
13. Ashleigh Shell;  Rebecca Copeman
15. Melissa Naudé

Academic, Bulletin

Matric Results – 2019

The results are in!

There was a wonderful atmosphere on our beautiful Union High School campus earlier today (Wednesday, 8 January) as the Class of 2019 gathered in reunion and celebration.

The 70-strong Class of 2019 was Union’s biggest Grade 12 class since 2015!

Of these 70 learners who wrote the recent NSC examination, 64 passed. (This is also the highest numbers of matriculants for Union since 2015.)

Our top performers for 2019 each achieved 3 distinctions in their respective subjects:

They are: (in alphabetical order)
• Megan Doyle (Accounting, Life Sciences and Life Orientation)
• Sanja Du Plessis (Accounting, Afrikaans FAL and Life Orientation)
• Micela Loock (Afrikaans FAL, Mathematical Literacy and Life Orientation)
• Jenna McNaughton (Afrikaans FAL, Life Orientation and Music)
• Peter Watermeyer (Accounting, Afrikaans FAL and Life Orientation)

The following learners each achieved 2 distinctions:
• Ethan Gedult (Afrikaans FAL and Life Orientation)
• Christine Harris (Mathematical Literacy and Life Orientation)
• Zintle Maki (Afrikaans FAL and Life Orientation)
• Rashieda Mali (Life Orientation and Tourism)
• Liano Naidoo (Afrikaans FAL and Life Orientation)
• Chevonne Prinsloo (Life Orientation and Tourism)
• Lunga Zantsi (Life Orientation and Tourism)

In total, our Class of 2019 produced 48 A-symbols collectively, with 66% of the learners qualifying for entry to study towards a bachelor’s degree.

Union High School would like to express its sincere gratitude to all the members of staff who played such an integral part in the education of the Class of 2019 over the past 12 years.

They have, as always, provided a superb platform for the learners to achieve to the very best of their abilities. A special word of thanks is also extended to the families of every single one of our learners for their steadfast support throughout the learners’ years of study.

Although we are disappointed that our pass rate for the NSC examination has dropped from 96% in 2018 to 91,4% in 2019, we remain, as always, very proud of our learners and wish them all of the very best as they embark upon an exciting future.

Academic, Bulletin

Holey Mole-y!

Union High School’s Grade 10 and 11 science classes celebrated Mole Day today (Wednesday, 23 October), with a series of fun and interesting activities focused on the mole.

And by ‘mole’, we don’t mean the furry little critters that burrow underground, but rather a useful unit of measurement in chemistry that all Grade 10 to 12s (should!) know well.

Mole, abbreviated mol, designates an extremely large number, 66.02 x 10^23, of units (be it atoms, molecules or other specified articles), and is central to many chemical calculations.

As such, the 23rd day of the 10th month between 6:02am and 6:02pm is used to celebrate all things molar, with the aim of helping the learners understand the importance of the chemical ‘mole’.

This year, the theme for Mole Day was ‘DespicaMOLE Me!’ and the learners had a lot of fun celebrating this molmentous occasion with various mole-related activities.