The recent Karoo Eisteddfod was a wonderful experience for our learners!
๐๐ข๐ก๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก๐ฆ to pianists Joy Merifield, Vivian McEwan, Brigette Oelofsen, Caitrin Spence and Arno Nell on having been awarded Triple Gold certificates for their respective performances.
๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ!
Each year, Unionโs Grade 10s spend months anticipating the Odyssey hiking adventure which takes them on a physical, soul-searching journey down the Gats River Canyon, starting in Nieu-Bethesda and ending in Graaff-Reinet five days later.
Bright and early this morning, Friday, 23 September, it was the Grade 10 class of 2022โs time to set off on this adventure.
๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐น๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด. ๐๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐จ๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ!
๐๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ! ๐๐ต ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ.
What better time of year to focus on some of the โnew growthโ at the Union Schools!
Over the past couple of weeks, visitors to our school would have seen that there are several areas under construction, with builders hard at work in every nook and cranny of our campus.
โข We were excited to break ground on the new junior school classrooms on the corner of Donkin and Caledon Streets a short while ago. The ๐๐ข๐ก๐ฆ๐ง๐ฅ๐จ๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ฆ๐ ๐ก๐๐ช ๐๐ก๐ก๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฃ๐๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ข๐ข๐ ๐ฆ is taking shape at an incredible pace and is on track for completion before the end of the year.
โข The radical ๐ฅ๐๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ง ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐ is also well underway. Once completed, Unionโs science lab will be a tech-forward, bright, friendly and comfortable educational space, second to none in the province.
โข The ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ก๐๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐จ๐ก๐๐ข๐ก ๐ฆ๐๐๐ข๐ข๐๐ฆ’ ๐ฆ๐ช๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ข๐ is also nearing completion. Once finished, the elongated pool will measure exactly 25 metres in length, which will allow the school to host formal swimming galas and in doing so, generate, and allow for, renewed commitment from our swimmers and coaches to take swimming at Union to new heights.
We are incredibly excited about these projects – ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บโ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐น๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฉ๐ด – and are exceptionally grateful as a school for the innovative thinking and collaborative teamwork of the Union Schoolsโ Governing Body members in realising these enormous undertakings and the support of the generous sponsors backing the various projects
This past Tuesday afternoon, 6 September, learners from 10 schools in Graaff-Reinet competed for fantastic cash prizes at a ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ง held at the Botanics Sports Club โ hosted by ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐.
โข In the Primary School’s A-league, Union placed first through Grade 7 learner ๐๐ฎ๐๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฒ, who won all five her matches.
In the category for high schools, Unionโs senior players did exceptionally well in both the A and B league, coming out tops in both.
๐ช๐ฒ๐น๐น ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐บ๐!
๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐น๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ 
Union extends a special ๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ to the following sponsors for their contribution to the event: Wรผrth, Haslop & Mason, Mynhardt Construction, Montego Cares and Steel Pipes & Fittings.
๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ป๐๐ผ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ฑ & ๐๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ!
Are you a youth looking for an awesome journey? Are you a parent who would like their child to experience the outdoors and learn while doing in a safe and wholesome environment?
๐๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ด ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ญ.
Leadership abilities, teamwork, self-motivation, commitment, perseverance, environmental and cultural awareness and strong values are just a few of the life skills scouts acquire whilst having fun and ‘learning by doing’. Positive peer pressure and outdoor activities all contribute to individuals growing up with the belief that they can and are changing the world in order to leave it a better place than how they found it.
The Graaff-Reinet Scout Troop meets every week on Thursday evenings in the Chookie Geard Scout Hall in Neser Street and is open to all boys from Graaff-Reinet in Grade 5 to Grade 12.
๐๐ข๐ก๐ง๐๐๐ง Mrs Tess Neill at 072 178 7699 or tessneillsa@gmail.com to find out more.
Members of Union High School, Graaff-Reinet‘s Representative Council of Learners (RCL), along with those representing Hoรซr Volkskool, had the privilege of attending a Leadership Development Session facilitated by Ms Josephine Rodgers, the Eastern Cape’s Deputy Provincial Manager for FEDSAS.
In this follow-up session to one held in May this year, the main topic of discussion dealt with ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ก๐.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ด.
Well done to Grade 11 learner ๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ผ ๐ก๐ฒ๐น๐น who was selected out of thousands of entries through an audition process earlier this year to participate in the ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐บ-๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฌ run by ๐๐๐ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฌ๐ด๐ช๐ฆ๐ด.
