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.
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.
๐๐ข๐ก๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก๐ฆ to Grade 11 learner ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น ๐ฉ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ on being awarded Full Colours at this past Friday morning’s whole-school assembly, for his achievements in Chess. ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ญ!๐๐ข๐ก๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก๐ฆ to Grade 10 learner ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ on being awarded Full Colours at this past Friday morning’s whole-school assembly, for achievements in โMusicโ. ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐๐ฐ๐บ!
Congratulations to senior music students, ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐น๐ (Grade 9) and ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ (Grade 10), who successfully passed their recent Practical Examinations with assurance!
๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐น๐ played the ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) Performance Grade 5 Examination and achieved 81% (Merit).
On Friday , 21 October, we hosted our annual Senior and Junior Prizegiving ceremonies in the school hall.
These special occasions provide a space for us to reflect and celebrate the school year and all the learners who have put in the hard yards in academics, culture and sports – the learners who have persevered against all odds, shown courage and built character while facing their personal challenges head on.
Earlier this evening, Friday evening, 21 October, Union High School, Graaff-Reinet held its annual Senior Prizegiving Ceremony and we are all just beaming with pride at what our learners have accomplished this year.
The last few years have been challenging, however, ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ง๐๐จ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฃ๐๐, ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ช๐จ๐๐๐จ๐ข ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ค๐ช๐๐.
This wonderful evening was concluded with a much anticipated announcement โ that of Unionโs ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ข๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฏ.
On Friday, 21 October we formally said goodbye to the Class of 2022 during our annual ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ข๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ข๐ก๐ฌ.
We wish the matrics all the best as they approach the end of their schooling journey!
๐๐ข๐ก๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก๐ฆ to junior music students, ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ (Grade 5), ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐๐ฒ (Grade 5) and ๐๐ถ๐๐ผ ๐ฆ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ (Grade 7) who successfully passed their recent Rockschool Graded Music Exams with aplomb!
Kira passed her Debut Contemporary Exam with Distinction (90%), Curen also passed his Debut Contemporary Exam with Distinction (91%) and Liso passed his Grade 1 Contemporary Exam with Distinction (91%).
The school badge is the graphical symbol that represents an educational institution and the values it aims to inculcate in its learners. ๐๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป๐๐๐ถ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ปโ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ณ๐.
It expresses something true and inherent to the tangibles that the school offers and with time it becomes a shorthand for the quality of school and its associated education.
How do school badges arise? Most of the time theyโre a product of history and legacy.
The design of Union High Schoolโs badge, known as the A.E. Puttick badge, dated 1927, was at the time guided by the schoolsโ origins, bearing in mind the schoolโs imagined future, while conforming to the societal conventions of the time.
While the badge in itself consist of a collection of graphics and colours, each a unique response from the people setting up the school – their answer to the question of what does a school represent – The Union Flag featured in the badge, in particular, is representational of the Union of South Africa being part of the British Commonwealth of Nations at that time.
But, no matter how much time, effort and thought is put into it, ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ. They all evolve with time, changing societal conditions, and most importantly, how learners take home their memories of what their school badge means to them.
Today, based on the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-racial and multi-lingual composition of the learners at the school, Union is a microcosm of the community around it.
Very few schools can actually claim this and it is this very fact that charges Union with being an agent for social cohesion within the community, by promoting a greater understanding of cultural diversity among its learners.
And, as Union doesnโt operate in a vacuum, it is influenced by the happenings in the community and in-turn the school has an impact on the town it inhabits.
Union therefore has an important role to play in nurturing the community to be socially inclusive. We are in a position to build bridges between different cultural perspectives. This can be done in an atmosphere of shared learning, within the safety of the school grounds in the first instance, but also through reaching out to the wider community, and through making small โ but impactful – changes, such as a change to the design of the schoolโs badge.
While thereโs a 100 years of legacy locked up in Unionโs badge, we canโt ignore that it doesnโt serve to truly represent the entire school community in this day and age.
The South African national flag represents a converging of paths, the merging of both past and present. It represent a synopsis of the country’s vexillological history and current political realities. It represents a compromise, the binding together of all sections of the people in one common sentiment.
Including it in our school badge, will make a monumental difference to the badgeโs ability to unify the learners and school community it represents in that it will truly serve to be an accurate reflection of our school community going forward.
We hope that with a bit of time it comes to be an image that learners, parents and staff invest their pride in, a badge that represents and connects the incredible little community of the Union Schools.
Launched in 2012 in Graaff-Reinet, the non-profit organisation ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ป๐ธ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ has been creating awareness, uniting communities and raising money for those afflicted with cancer for the past 10 years!
In honour of their 10th anniversary as well as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Union High School, Graaff-Reinet has wrapped the trunks of about 40 trees lining the school’s sidewalk with a pop of pink material to show our support of this worthy cause.
We ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ก๐๐ง๐ฌ and neighbouring schools to share our message of support and help raise funds for those affected by Cancer by wrapping their trees in pink for the month of October!
Locals can ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ง๐๐๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ by purchasing Pink Trees for Pauline merchandise at Hello You in Somerset Street, Graaff-Reinet.
