๐๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ข ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด – ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ.
This morning, Union Preparatory School, Graaff-Reinet experienced such a moment as we bid farewell to Mrs ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐๐ถ๐น๐น after twenty-eight remarkable years of service.
It was a morning filled with both gratitude and emotion. From the opening welcome to the beautiful musical tribute by our choir, the programme reflected so much of what Mrs Kingwill herself has given to this school – ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ.
A moving tribute by Mr Hulleman captured what so many have felt for years: that ๐ ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ, ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐, ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐, ๐ท๐ผ๐๐ณ๐๐น ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐.
Her story is one of extraordinary dedication. Long before Union was fortunate enough to call her its own, she was already living out a life of excellence – whether through her musical talent, her teaching or her service to others. And when she arrived here, she did what she has always done so naturally: she saw opportunities and she created something meaningful from them.
๐ฆ๐ผ ๐บ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ด๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ – from Carols by Candlelight and Music Hour, to Interschools assemblies and countless other much-loved events that brought our community closer together. These were never just events; they were moments of connection and belonging – gifts that Mrs Kingwill gave so generously.
Beyond the events and achievements, it is perhaps her influence in the classroom that will echo the longest. As a Foundation Phase teacher, she shaped the earliest school memories of hundreds of children, nurturing not only their learning, but their confidence and sense of self. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ – ๐ข ๐จ๐ช๐ง๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ.
And woven through it all is the story of a family whose roots run deeply through this school.
Together with Mr Donald Kingwill, whose own years of service helped shape the very grounds we walk on, the Kingwill name has become part of the Union story in the truest sense. From their children who once filled these classrooms, to their grandchildren who do so today, theirs is a legacy that stretches across generations – ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐ณ๐๐น ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด.
As the assembly drew to a close and our school gathered outside to form a Guard of Honour, there was a sense that words alone could not fully capture what Mrs Kingwill has meant to this community. But in the smiles, the tears, the music and the quiet appreciation, it was felt all the same.
๐ ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐๐ถ๐น๐น, ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐๐๐น๐. Thank you for the traditions you created, the lives you touched and the love you poured into this school. The Union Preparatory School community is richer because of you – and your legacy will continue to bloom here, just like the Union Schools Rose, for many years to come.
