Bulletin, Cultural

Fun Outing for Snr Chess Players

On Monday afternoon, 19 August, the members of Union’s senior chess team enjoyed a wonderful outing to Coldstream Restaurant.

The outing allowed the learners to break away from their regular old routine and served as a reward for their excellent efforts and great results throughout the year. Thanks to a generous sponsor who wishes to remain anonymous, the youngsters could also enjoy a meal and something to drink.

Union extends its grateful thanks to Mr. Christopher-John Koopman, who offered up his free time to assist with the coaching of these learners every opportunity he got.  In addition, he spoiled the team with a delicious cake for them to share.

Outings such as this one, are very important to Union’s Chess Club as it allows people to see that chess is alive and well as an extra-curricular activity at Union and goes to show just how much every participant enjoys it.

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Bulletin, Cultural, Eco-Schools

Santa Shoebox Project

Ten underprivileged children in Graaff-Reinet will receive Christmas gifts this year, thanks to a Union Eco-Schools community outreach project held recently.

In support of the Santa Shoebox Project, a great charity that aims to give underprivileged children (many of whom would otherwise not receive anything over the festive season) a Christmas present, 10 members of the school’s Interact Club, partnered with 23 Eco Clubbers on Friday, 16 August.

The ten teams then made their way to the local shops with money in hand and a list of goods to purchase for a specific recipient of this goodwill project.

Teams had to buy an item of clothing, some toiletries such as soap, toothpaste, a toothbrush and a facecloth, a toy or game and school stationery for the particular child they were shopping for.

Upon their return to school, the teams had to do a reconciliation of funds spent, take off the prices and pack all the items into a shoebox.

They did extremely well and its clear from their purchases that children know best when it comes to buying for their counterparts. They also had so much fun, that they suggested Union do this annually.

The money used for the respective purchases was raised in the second school term, when the school’s staff and learners paid to take part in a civvies day.  This educational, yet enjoyable Eco-Schools community outreach project, is a clear indication that interdependent partnerships are fun and successful.

The ten festively gift-wrapped parcels will soon be handed over to the Santa Shoebox Project in Graaff-Reinet and Union thanks them for the opportunity to get involved in this worthy cause.

Bulletin, Cultural

Keeping The Blood Pumping!

This morning, Tuesday, 13 August, Union’s learners participated in a blood drive held by the SANBS in the Tony Burrell Union.

Realising that the demand for blood is steady and blood banks count on volunteers to meet the needs of accident victims and patients in need of transfusions, the learners, once again, eagerly supported this initiative.

Bulletin, Cultural

Annual Primary Speech Competition

The Union primary department’s annual Speech Competition was held in the Tony Burrell Union on Wednesday morning, 31 July.

This year there were 13 learners participating.

Topics ranged from, ‘Strange world records set in history’ and ‘English is a crazy language’, to ‘Crazy inventions’ and ‘Oddest sports’.In accompaniment to the speeches, there were also some lovely poems recited, stories told and articles read aloud by other junior learners throughout the course of the morning.

We would like to congratulate all the participants and thank all those involved. It was pleasing to see so many enthusiastic learners presenting their speeches.  It is not easy to stand before a large audience and deliver a speech and we would like to congratulate all the young learners for their courageous efforts.

(left to right) Anna-May Hayes, Megan Nortje, Caytah-Leigh Koeberg, Na’eem Mahomed, Amber Bezuidenhout, Anebel Norval

Thanks also go to the teachers and parents for supporting and encouraging the learners and for the time spent preparing for the competition.

We would like to thank the judges who gave up their time to support the school by judging our contest.  The judges were very impressed by the high quality of speeches and the obvious preparation that had gone into the day and they commented that everyone did well.

Caytah-Leigh Koeberg was announced as the Grade 7 winner and Na’eem Mahomed as the runner-up.  Anna-May Hayes won in Grade 6 and Megan Nortje was announced as the runner-up.  The winner in Grade 5 is Amber Bezuidenhout with the runner-up being Anebel Norval.

 

Bulletin, Cultural

Born To Perform!

Last night (Thursday, 1 August) saw the Union High School hall overflowing with excitement, enthusiasm and entertainment.  The annual Evening of Music was a wonderful showcase of the different music groups here at Union.

From our primary choir and marimba band, through to our senior pianists and violinists, all our musicians demonstrated passion and commitment in the lead up to this fabulous night, culminating in a spectacular evening of performances.

Under the baton of Union’s Department of Music staff, Mmes. Sanette Brink, Zelda van Rooyen and Karmin van der Walt, this evening has become the highlight of the school’s cultural calendar – an event not to be missed.

To start, the primary choir set the tone and standard with their rendition of “You’ll be in my heart” and “All I need to know”.  Union’s pianists then played a series of beautiful works such as the English folk song “Greensleeves” as well as newer songs like “Faded” by Alan Walker.

Following excellent performances by our violinists, a string ensemble – which showcased the skill of ensemble playing – and several talented soloists who graced us with their beautiful voices, the senior choir treated the audience to a heartfelt choral performance, singing “Let the river run” and “Amavolovo”.

A combined performance by the primary and high school choirs with a rendition of “Hallelujah” ended off the evening.

The event truly featured a kaleidoscope of musical items with something for everyone to enjoy.  Congratulations to all those who took part and a big thank you to our many supporters, parents and friends who came along to enjoy the evening.

If you missed this concert, make a “note” not to miss next year’s Music Evening!

Bulletin, Cultural

New Choir Benches

Besides the musical part, there are many aspects to think about when a choir performs – acoustically positioning choir members being one of them.

To assist with this, Union High School recently invested in new choir benches. Expertly made by André Brink and Herman Laubscher, these sturdy new benches will provide the choristers with a comfortable place to stand and allow the choir directors the opportunity to position the singers for optimal sound.

Seen here are the members of the junior choir who were the first to make use of the new benches during practice yesterday (Tuesday, 30 July).

Bulletin, Cultural, Eco-Schools

Respect The Spekboom!

The members of Union High School’s Eco Club recently made great strides in neutralizing their carbon footprint, by assisting SANParks in establishing a Spekboom nursery.

This incredible plant with its bright green, circular leaves is a miracle worker when it comes to fighting air pollution. It has the ability to ‘sequester’ or capture four to ten tons of carbon per hectare!

Essentially, it acts as a carbon sponge, absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and turning it into plant matter. Excess carbon in the atmosphere is responsible for global warming, so the more carbon we can remove from the air and return to the ground, the better. Spekboom is also known as Pork Bush or Elephant’s Food.

In an initiative to propagate new Spekboom plants, the Eco Club learners, accompanied by SANParks personnel, visited Mountain Drive, where they gathered Spekboom cuttings and then later transferred them to seedling trays in the Park’s nursery.

SANParks will sell these new Spekboom plants to generate an income for their nursery and simultaneously reduce CO2 in the atmosphere.

Bulletin, Cultural

All The Right Moves…

A number of Union High School chess players were invited to participate in the closed chess tournament that serves as the final round of trials to select the Chris Hani Chess Team.  If they are selected, they will represent the Chris Hani district at the South African Junior Chess Championship in Johannesburg in January 2020.

They are: Camran Swartz, Josh Arends, Erin Gedult, Naeem Mahomed, Neelon Fourie, Cassidy Goliad, Mihan Campbell, Matthew McNaughton, Tracy Petitt, James Rose-Innes, Hagen Muller-Brunke, Harun Wajid and Liano Naidoo.

We wish them the best of luck for the tournament that will take place on 17 August in Graaff-Reinet.

Bulletin, Cultural

Annual Senior (gr 10 – 12) Speech Competition

Learners shine at speech contest

The power of words, intonation and body language was unleashed during Union High School’s annual Senior Speech Competition, held on Thursday evening, 18 July.

The evening was themed, ‘The Wonderful World of Nursery Rhymes’.

Participants were each given a particular nursery rhyme and instructed to prepare a speech pertaining to the central message contained in the nursery rhyme.  Sixteen speakers participated and “wowed” the audience with witty speeches, serious speeches and even some way-out speeches.  Mandilakhe Matotie served as the evening’s MC and did a wonderful job of keeping the evening full of energy and running smoothly.

At the end of a very entertaining night, first place was awarded to Meghan Basson for her speech entitled ‘Jack Sprat Could Eat No Fat – Diet Edition’.  Second place went to Taylyn Miller for ‘Jack and Jill Went Up A Hill – When Things Go Wrong’.  Peter Watermeyer claimed third place for ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb – Role Models and Conformity’.

The evening was concluded with the guests and participants enjoying some delicious refreshments.

Thanks are extended to all those who were brave enough to deliver these exceptional speeches in front of a crowded room – you did yourselves and the school proud!