We are Bemerton St John
Community
We are linked very strongly with our local community.
Reverend Kevin Martin is an important part of our school and delivers worship on a Thursday morning and Friday afternoon.
Our local church is part of Bemerton Parish. To find out what is happening locally please follow the link: http://www.bemertonparish.org.uk/
St John's Place
The Victorian church opposite the school was closed for 8 years after the heating broke. Following a major fundraising campaign and a £650,000 building project, it was re-opened in 2016 as a shared community, school, and church space. For further information visit www.stjohnsplace.uk
George Herbert & Bemerton
The famous 17th Century Poet George Herbert was the Rector who lived in the Old Rectory just down the road from the school, opposite the little St Andrew's Church. The George Herbert in Bemerton Group is a local community group that celebrates his life and works. The Group maintains strong links with the school, and promotes an awareness of George Herbert and his place in history by sponsoring an annual poetry competition.
Pupil Leadership
As part of our mission to enable our pupils to flourish and prepare them for life beyond primary school, we support children to undertake a variety of roles and responsibilities.
Head Pupils
At the end of Year 5, children are able to write a letter to staff to apply for the roles of Head Pupils. All staff members vote to ensure a fair and democratic process is undertaken.
Our Head Pupils are involved in a range of school activities and have been a part of the MLP Pupil Parliament this year, leading on a range of projects within Bemerton and meeting a variey of speakers, including Salisbury MP John Glen.
House Captains
Every September, Year 6 pupils who wish to put themselves forward for the role of House Captain prepare and present speeches to the rest of their house group. Children vote for the candidates and two are selected to represent each house (Fire, Air, Earth and Water) for the rest of the year. The House Captains have a number of roles, including counting house points each week, organising activities e.g. whole school team building and lifting the House Cup!
School Council
Two school Council members from each class are elected at the beginning of each academic year. Their roles vary and include raising money for charity, undertaking school-based projects, representing Bemerton in a variety of ways and organising events such as Bemerton's Got Talent!
Church Council
Church Council members are also elected democratically in September. Church Council play an important role in key Church services, such as Remembrance, and create and read their own prayers at these special occasions. They also lead Worship at least once a term and work alongside our school Chaplain, Wendy Orphan, on school projects, for example, the outside spirituality area.
Eco Committee
See below to find out what our ECO committee have been working on.
Librarians
In Year 5 and Year 6, children have the opportunity to apply to be school librarians. These pupils are instrumental in running the library and help children to use the library at lunch times and sign out books using our lending service.
Pupil Ambassadors
Pupils from Year 1 to Year 6 were invited to apply for the role of Pupil Ambassador; two children from each class were awarded these positions of responsibility. Our Pupil Ambassadors are always on hand to support their peers at break and lunch times and are identifiable by their bright orange jackets!
Other roles and responsibilities
A range of classroom based roles are on offer every year, for example, book monitors, computer monitors etc. In Year 6, children have additional responsibilities, including distributing fruit and milk to KS1 classes and setting up the hall for worship and controlling the laptop. All pupils have the responsibility to be good role models and be kind, respectful and considerate to everyone.
Forest School
We are extremely fortunate that our pupils are able to access on-site Forest School activities in our dedicated area at the back of the school. Throughout their time at Bemerton, children take part in a range of fun and engaging activities that enable them to appreciate the wonders of our natural world.
Forest School
We are an Eco School
Last year, we gained the ECO Green Flag Award and our ECO committee have been working hard to maintain that this year.
Our ECO Committee have been reviewing and updating the school’s commitment to sustainability and environmental action. They have been focusing on issues around biodiversity, energy use, global citizenship, healthy living, litter management, threats to marine life, the character of the school grounds, transport, waste and water use. Some of the activities that they have undertaken include planting many new species around the school to encourage biodiversity and to attract bees, installing a new water butt to save water, setting up new recycling schemes in school alongside many other impressive projects.
Climate Change within the curriculum
Did you know that there are many opportunities for our children to learn about climate change woven throughout our curriculum? A few examples include a term-long look at sustainability in Lower Key Stage Two, climate change in Upper Key Stage Two and persuasive writing given to supermarkets to ask them to reduce plastic use!