Bulletin, Cultural

Operation ‘Love Sandwiches’ Continue

It was the Grade 10s turn on Wednesday morning, 12 February, to try and best the other grades in the ‘Love Sandwiches’ project recently initiated by the school’s Interact Club.

[This ongoing project sees the learners of the respective grades at Union compete to see who can make the most sandwiches in aid of this initiative.]

Armed with all their sandwich-making supplies, the three Grade 10 classes, led by their class teachers Miss Jacqui Jones, Mr Erwin Ittershagen-Strauss and Mrs Bronwen Langmead, managed to set a new record – a whopping 487 sandwiches!

The sandwiches were delivered later on that afternoon to the Midlands Hospital, the CMR and the soup kitchen at the East Street Congregational Church.

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.

Bulletin, Student Life

Gr 8 Learners Receive Bibles

Grade 8 learners at Union High School had the privilege today of becoming recipients of Gideons Bibles.

The learners were honoured with the Bibles early this morning, Tuesday, 11 February, when Mr Johan Botha and his wife, René, representatives of The Gideons International in South Africa visited the school.

Mr Johan Botha had the privilege of being able to present a Bible to his eldest grandson, Hugo, currently a Grade 8 learner at the school.
Bulletin

Coding Club Gives Learners An Edge

The continuing importance of technology and pervasiveness in our lives require a lot of people with coding skills. Through a special coding club, Union’s learners are not only being taught how to use technology, but also to understand the science behind it.

The members of the 2019 Coding Club in front of the digital clock at Union’s Puttick Field. They are seen here with Mr Kallie Venter and Mr JP Kruger and their new robot front and centre. Back: Jack Allers, Matthew Ferreira, Christopher Collins, Corniel Vorster and Mohamed Hartley. Front: Mr JP Kruger, Karl Venter, Jarryd Hagedorn-Hansen, Cassidy Goliad and Mr Kallie Venter

The Coding Club is a special extra-mural activity initiated by Mr Kallie Venter, an Old Unionite himself, aimed at engaging learners in Computer Science, and allowing them to gain a practical understanding of basic coding.

The Coding Club was started towards the end of 2018, when Mr Venter had the idea of providing the school with a new digital clock for rugby matches.

But, Mr Venter not only wanted to construct the clock for the school, he also wanted to share the knowledge required to build and programme the clock with the learners of the school.

The construction and completion of this project (which can now be seen next to Union’s Puttick Field) has created an enthusiastic group of tech-savvy learners who are all eager to learn more about coding and building devices using the Raspberry Pi.

Meetings are held on Tuesday evenings where learners continue to work on various projects.

The Club’s current project is a robot that will have an array of functions ranging from driving, shooting a water pistol and perhaps even confetti. All this will be determined by the ability of the learners, their dedication, as well as their imagination.

In addition to the practical skills the learners are acquiring while building the various devices, the learners are also beginning to understand the basics of web designing and programming as each device is being programmed to work off a mobile phone or tablet, once it has connected to the web page designed by the learners.

The benefits of learning coding at a young age are enormous and include the development of problem-solving skills, computational thinking, persistence, collaboration, and a deeper understanding of a range of mathematical concepts and language.

Union is exceedingly grateful to Mr Venter, assisted by Mr JP Kruger, for steering this initiative and providing our learners with this very valuable opportunity!

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!

Bulletin, Cultural

Exploring Connections

The members of Union High School’s Eco Club recently spent an afternoon learning about the interdependence of biotic and abiotic things in the environment.

Braving the sweltering Karoo heat, they worked well in their teams, conducting an audit and then using that knowledge to play ‘The Web of Life’ game.

A fun and educative afternoon was had by all!

Bulletin

New Desks To Transform Classrooms

The learners at Union High School in Graaff-Reinet are poised to become more focused, confident and productive than ever this year.

At least, that’s the aim of the school’s latest initiative.

With the objective of rethinking the classroom environment and providing options to learners in a way that opens up their possibilities for learning, Union has recently started to introduce flexible seating in its classrooms, with the aim of phasing out the standard desks completely in the near future.

The first classroom to be converted, was that of Mr Erwin Ittershagen-Strauss, who teaches mathematics at the school.

“The new desks offer fantastic scope for participatory teaching and learning,” said Mr Ittershagen-Strauss. “As the desks can be utilised in a mix of forms, whether in rows, groups or semi-circled tables, it allows us to arrange our classrooms with the learners’ physical space and interaction in mind.”

So far, the kids are loving the change!

Union hopes that its new approach to modernising its classrooms will positively impact the well-being and motivation of its learners, boost their morale and maximise the classroom’s potential in promoting thinking-interaction, study, collaboration, thinking alone, and so on.

Bulletin, Student Life

Prefects Treated In Nieu-Bethesda

Since their induction as prefects, Union’s new learner leaders have been great ambassadors for the school, showing tremendous commitment to UHS and to their respective duties as prefects.

As the year starts to take hold in earnest, the prefects were treated to a laid-back 24-hours in Nieu-Bethesda, during which they relaxed in each other’s company, played some fierce Monopoly, relished in the sound of rain on a tin roof, engaged in 1-bounce and relay tennis, enjoyed delicious pizza at a local restaurant and generally got to know each other better on an informal basis.

We hope the prefects are feeling energised and ready for all that lies ahead in 2020 and wish them all the best in exercising their duties this year.

Onwards and upwards!

Bulletin

Save The Date

The 2020 Interschools encounter between the Union Schools and Laer and Hoër Volkskool, will this year kick off on Monday, 3 August, and culminate on Saturday, 8 August, with the clash between the two schools’ 1st XVs.

All those planning on attending this year’s Interschools are advised to make their accommodation arrangements as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

The organisers of this year’s reunions are asked to please send their details through to uhsmarketing@unionschools.co.za or 061 3108343 – the school would like to get in touch with you.