Bulletin

Staff Awards

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲
On the last day of Term 1, Friday, 23 April, Union High School held its long-term service awards ceremony in the Tony Burrell Union.
The awards ceremony is held at the end of each term to acknowledge and commend teachers and support staff who have been serving the school for a long period of time.

The most recent long-term service milestones were achieved by:

Mr Arnold du Plessis – 10 years of service as a groundsman at Union High School.
Mrs Lou-Anne Gerber – 15 years of service as a teacher at Union High School.
Ms Sharon Shell -15 years of service at Union High School.
Mrs Lizet Crankshaw – 20 years of service at Union High School.
Mrs Belinda Grewar – 25 years of service as a teacher at Union High School.
Bulletin

Tongue Twisters For The WIN!

Union High School recently held a tongue twister competition to see which of our learners can fire off a set of fun Afrikaans, isiXhosa and English phrases filled with either a lot of alliteration or a confusing combination of words without tripping up!
➡️ Read more about this competition here: http://www.unionschools.co.za/…/tongue-twisters-for…/
The 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗦 in the school’s primary department (Grade 5 to 7) are Miecke Blom (Afrikaans), Elizabeth Houseman (English) and Hlelo Skotshi (isiXhosa).
In the senior department (Grade 8 to 12) Vuyo Pietersen won the prize for the Afrikaans tongue twister, James Rose-Innes for English and Ngomusa Zweni for isiXhosa.
There were several learners who attempted all three tongue twisters, here Jarrod Naude and Vuyo Booysen received a special prize for their stellar attempts!
Congratulations to all the winners!
➡️ Visit our YouTube channel to view some videos of the competition: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpuKcTrHgpAQ_KovzKsZXPA

 

Bulletin

Thank You SuperHygiene!

Union High School was delighted to receive a visit from Old Unionite Mr Luvo Swelankomo on Tuesday morning, 4 May.
Mr Swelankomo and fellow Old Unionite Mr Khanyisa Tshuni, who were both part of the Class of 2016, recently founded a company called SuperHygiene, based in Queenstown, that supplies hygiene services and consumables.
During his visit to the school, Mr Swelankomo donated packs containing dishwashing liquid, Handy Cleaner, Pine Gel and hand sanitiser to the school.
[After matriculating from Union in 2016, Mr Swelankomo furthered his studies at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, where he first obtained his National Diploma in Analytical Chemistry and then his B. Tech degree. Mr Tshuni furthered his studies at the Grootfontein College of Agriculture where he studied Farming Management. Their company, SuperHygiene was founded in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, after the two entrepreneurs identified a need for affordable, but effective, cleaning consumables in their community. After having originally only manufactured sanitising liquid to help curb the spread of the disease, the company has since expanded to the production of multipurpose liquid soap, bleach and several other cleaning consumables. They also offer a range of services, such as water purification, fumigation and pest control to name but a few.]
Union High School is very proud of these two enterprising young men and thanks them for their kind donation.
Seen here on the right is Old Unionite, Mr Luvo Swelankomo, SuperHygiene’s MD, with Union High School’s Headmaster Mr William Pringle and Mr Bantu Dodo, SuperHygiene’s chemical mixer.
Bulletin

Applications 2022 Now Open

Where are you going to school next year? 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮!

➡ Visit our admissions page at http://www.unionschools.co.za/administr…/admission-policy/
to find out more about the process of applying or visit our website at www.unionschools.co.za to find out more about the school and its boarding facilities.

Alternatively, please e-mail admin@unionschools.co.za with any queries in this regard or to request an application form.

See you soon, future UNIONITES!

Bulletin, Rugby

New Coach For Union’s 1st XV

Union High School takes great pride in announcing that Mr Christopher Felix has been named as the new coach of the school’s 1st rugby team.
Mr Felix, a well-known educator at Union who is highly regarded by all his learners, has been teaching Accounting to the school’s seniors since 2014. He is currently also serving as the Senior Duty Master at Union’s senior boarding establishment, Arthur Kingwill House.
Since starting at Union, Mr Felix has been involved in the coaching of rugby in all the respective age groups, from u/13 right through to u/19, while attending numerous coaching clinics and courses over the years.
In addition to this, Mr Felix boasts some valuable coaching experience gained while serving as the assistant coach of the Eastern Province Country Districts team in 2018 and 2019.
Following his continuous successes with his EPCD teams at the Academy Week rugby tournaments, he was subsequently appointed as the head coach of the EPCD team for 2020/21, before the rugby season was shelved due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
With a coaching philosophy of ‘Humility breeds success”, we’re confident that the boys will thrive under Mr Felix’s knowledgeable and passionate tutelage.
“It is an honour and a privilege to be able to coach Union’s 1st team rugby boys this year. Following a difficult year in which they weren’t able to take to the field, they’re motivated and raring to go,” said Mr Felix on his appointment. “For me, the game needs to be exciting, fast-paced running rugby and, whilet is what I am looking forward to encouraging here, my main focus will be the boys’ growth and development and most importantly, they must enjoy it,” concluded Mr Felix.
Bulletin

A Word Of Thanks

On Monday, 19 April, the local representatives of The Gideons International paid a visit to Union High School in order to deliver free copies of the Gideons’ Bible for all of Union’s 68 Grade 8 learners.

The Gideons International is an interdenominational association of Christian business and professional men whose primary activity is distributing copies of the Bible free of charge.

Union extends its thanks to the Gideons for this kind gesture.

Should you wish to find out more about The Gideons International, you can visit their website: https://gideons.co.za/

Bulletin

Webinar For Parents

We are very excited to introduce our very first webinar for parents titled “Engage the World to Change the World”, in collaboration with Keller Education!
This webinar has been pre-recorded and is available to parents for the following two weeks at this link: https://keller.wistia.com/medias/f4j1vinius
PS: There is an awesome prize up for grabs! A question will be asked at the end of the presentation, so be sure to listen carefully and answer it according to the instructions provided.
Please enjoy! If any of our parents have questions regarding this webinar, please email uhsmarketing@unionschools.co.za or home@keller.education
Academic Awards, Bulletin

A Fresh Look At Studying

On Friday morning, 16 April, Union High School’s Grade 9, 10, 11 and 12 learners attended an Elevate Education study skills coaching session.
These sessions, presented by energetic study skills facilitators, are aimed at developing a child’s study techniques in Time Management, Motivation, Growth Mindset, Stress Management and Exams and endeavours to reshape a child’s attitude towards studying and forge new habits that are modelled on the very habits used by past top students.
Bulletin

Walk With Us

Union High School invites all learners, staff, parents, Old Unionites and members of the Graaff-Reinet community to join us in support of our 2nd annual Family 5K Fun Run & Walk ‘at home’ challenge on Saturday, 1 May 2021!

Last year’s event was a HUGE success with over 400 entries and we look forward to seeing everyone coming together in support of this virtual fundraising event once again this year!

Participants can complete their virtual run/walk at any time on Saturday, 1 May! The 5 kilometres can be run, walked or even cycled from any location you choose, be it on the road, on a trail, on a treadmill or even at a gym!

Run, walk or cycle your own route on your own time all while being a part of something special.

To register, visit https://qkt.io/5KMFORUNION, make a donation of R50 per participant, complete your 5 kilometres on Saturday, 1 May, and share your photos with us by tagging us in your Facebook or Instagram post, by sending your photos via WhatsApp to 061 310 8343 or via e-mail to uhsmarketing@unionschools.co.za.

We will share the photos of the event on our social media sites, the best of which will be chosen to receive some great Union-branded goodies!

We look forward to, once again, sharing this fun event with you!

Bulletin

UHS Welcomes New Senior Hockey Coach

Union High School is excited to announce the appointment of Miss Antonet Louw to lead our hockey coaches and teams. She will also serve the school as its sports administrator.
Miss Louw brings a wealth of coaching experience with her, but more importantly, her coaching philosophy is a perfect match for our Union community.
She believes that the values learned from participating in sport allow young athletes to grow as people. Her past colleagues mention that one of her greatest strengths is building relationships and say not only is she an unbelievable teacher and coach, but she is an even better person.
Miss Louw attended Oranje Meisieskool where she captained their first hockey team and served as the school’s deputy head girl as well as the hostel’s head girl.
After having earned her provincial colours in hockey every year from the age of 12 and later her national colours in the u/16, u/17 and u/18 divisions, she went on to study at the University of the Free State, where she furthered her hockey ambitions while completing her B. Ed Foundation Phase degree as well as her Honours in Educational Psychology.
Some of her highlights as a player, to name but a few:
• Representing the University of the Free State as part of their women’s hockey team from 2016 to 2019. (She also represented the University of Massachusetts while studying abroad for a year.)
• Representing the Free State province on a provincial level as part of their u/21A side as well as their Women’s side thereafter.
• Being selected to represent South Africa as part of their SA u/21 side, the u/21 African Cup Team and the u/21 Junior World Cup Team.
• Captaining the national side in several matches during the u/21 African Cup as well as the u/21 Junior World Cup in Chili.
• Over the years, she has also represented the Madikwe Rangers, the Orange Rivers Rafters as well as the Namaqualand Daisies in the Premier Hockey League.
Despite being a force to be reckoned with as a player, she has also managed to amass an impressive portfolio as a hockey coach and has built a sterling reputation as a dynamic, creative, resourceful and high impact leader.
Miss Louw’s achievements as a coach are too many to list and cover all levels from provincial teams (as coach to many of the Southern Free State provincial teams), to schools hockey, having served as a coach at the Oranje Meisieskool at an u/14 level, right up to u/18.
We are very excited to welcome her to our exceptional school and can’t wait for our players and parents to get to know her – we know she will be an incredible asset to the community!