08.12.25

Dear Reception Family,

What a week! A rehearsal for Year 2, a dress rehearsal for the rest of the school, and a final production for parents. Wow! I was beyond proud of my class. There were moments when I really didn’t think it would all come together, but I’m sure you will agree that they were incredible. Learning lines and remembering when to stand, move, or speak isn’t easy, and they did a phenomenal job. Thank you for all your support at home. We are an amazing team, if I do say so myself!

In Phonics, we have reviewed the sounds and harder-to-read-and-spell words we have learned this half term. I have added a copy of these to the front of the children’s reading diaries so you can tick the sounds off as they learn them over the next few weeks. I may have promised a few prizes from my tin to those who work really hard on these when we review them in January! There is no sound book again this week, but please can I direct you to the clips I produced on our page under “Phonics with Mrs Sharma.” I am reviewing all the sounds we have learned, as well as the harder-to-read-and-spell words. I created these to support the children with their home learning, but also for families who aren’t familiar with phonics and how letters sound.

In Maths, the children have been learning about the composition of numbers to 5 and how many altogether. We have focused on number bonds to 5 and have been very practical—using ourselves as resources!

We have been creative this week and have started to decorate the special decorations we made last week, as well as beginning to write our Christmas cards.

We ended the week with Christmas Lunch. What a wonderful opportunity to sit with our friends in key stage 1 and have lunch together.

Next week will be filled with more Christmas activities as part of our creative curriculum, but it will be business as usual with phonics, maths, and topic lessons.

Have a wonderful weekend.
Thank you for your continued support.
Mrs Sharma

Week beginning 1.12.25

Dear Reception Family,

What a busy week we have had! Christmas came to Reception this week and Mrs Sharma made sure that the room and activities were festive for the children. She also decided to move the classroom around, giving us a bigger role-play area and a designated dressing-up corner, which has received rave reviews from the children.

In Phonics, we have been reviewing previous lessons.

In Maths, the children have been counting to 10 and securing their number bonds to five.

The children have also been busy rehearsing for their Nativity, which we look forward to sharing with you next Thursday 11th December at 9:30am. Only the Narrators need costumes. Please bring in on Monday the Christmas/winter jumper they wore today.

The children enjoyed Snowflake Day, where they made clay decorations for their families, decorated our Christmas trees with the wooden decorations they created, and began their Christmas cards. I have made a separate picture slide for this.

Thank you for your continued support as always.

Kindest regards,
Mrs Sharma

Week 24.11.25

Dear Reception Family,

This week we continued with our ‘Journeys’ topic. The children looked at all the different ways we can travel and discussed which methods are the most practical. We decided, for example, that Mrs Sharma probably shouldn’t attempt to come to work on a boat! We also talked about passports and what they are used for when travelling to different countries. In addition, we discussed how to stay safe when crossing the road by looking and listening carefully for cars. Mrs Sharma shared her favourite road-safety adverts from the 90s featuring the hedgehogs (yes, she is that old!). They’re very easy to find on YouTube if you’d like to watch them at home.

In History, the children learned about flight in the past, such as hot air balloons. They discovered that the Wright Brothers were very interested in making things fly and even played with catapults when they were younger. The children were shown a bi-plane like the one used for the first flight, and we discussed how different life would be without aeroplanes and how they help us reach destinations more quickly.
We introduced new vocabulary—invented, catapult, propel—which has been added to our Word Wall. The children also made their own planes and, once the glue had dried, painted them.

In Maths, we continued revising shapes and securing our number understanding to 5.

In Phonics, we introduced the sounds /ai/, /ee/, /igh/ and /oa/, along with the harder-to-read-and-spell words ‘was’ and ‘her’.

In PSHED, we explored the theme of sharing and caring. We used the puppets to create scenarios and discussed how Uni and BearBear should behave and how their friend might feel.

Please continue to practice the words and songs with the children at home. I can already see a huge difference this week, which is wonderful—thank you so much for your support. I’m sure some of the songs may be starting to grate on you by now!

Finally, please don’t forget that the children need to wear a Christmassy jumper or top next Friday, the day of the PTS Christmas Fair. Thank you for all the beautifully decorated plates so far! I have been very good and taken them straight to the library instead of eating all the sweets!

Thank you for your continued support.

Kindest regards

Mrs. Sharma

Week 17.11.25

Dear Reception Class,

What a week!!!! I have to start with the snow on Wednesday. What an exciting journey to school for everyone! Sadly, the snow didn’t settle, but we made the most of it by studying a snowflake up close and seeing how beautiful they are. We then made our own snowflake paintings on black card and cut out snowflakes using white paper and scissors. That activity certainly brought me back to my childhood!

The children started their ‘Journeys’ topic and we read the story You Can’t Take an Elephant on the Bus. Afterwards, we discussed the different types of transport they noticed. The children were invited to select their favourite part of the story and give a reason for their opinion using because.

We also talked about journeys people make using animals. For example, in the desert people travel on camels (and camel feet are specially designed to walk on sand); when people get married they might travel in a horse-drawn carriage; and in India the bridegroom traditionally arrives on an elephant!

In Maths, we have been revising numbers to 10 and have been looking at adding groups together. We also revised rectangles and squares.

In Phonics, we introduced the sounds /sh/, /th/, /ng/, /nk/ and the harder-to-read-and-spell word ‘push’. Please continue to support us by reading with your children four times a week. I can really tell the difference when children complete their home learning – thank you for your support.

We are now in our second week of Nativity practice. Wow! It is so different from producing, directing and choreographing Year 6 doing Shakespeare. I have a newfound respect for teachers doing Nativities past, present and future! Thank you to everyone who has learnt their lines already, and to everyone practising the songs at home. We really couldn’t do it without your support.

Today we showed the children some of the costumes we will be using, kindly donated by the PTA. Narrators will be required to wear their black PE jogging bottoms and a Christmas jumper. Everyone else will have a costume provided for them. Please support your children with this. A letter was also sent home detailing the clothing needed for the Nativity and information about ticket allocations (please note, you can request up to four tickets per family).

Thank you for your continued support, as always. This is a wonderful team to be part of.

Kindest regards,
Mrs Sharma

Week Commencing 10.11.25

Dear Reception Family,

We started the week with a big birthday celebration. Inspired by Billy’s Bucket, we talked about what we needed and made sure we had everything ready for Mrs Shailes, who was celebrating a ‘0’ birthday!

This week we continued with our topic based around the story Billy’s Bucket. We reflected on story events (including where it took Billy’s mum and dad 16 hours to get a whale back into his bucket!). On Thursday, the children thought of words to describe our bucket and things they might do with it at the seaside. We then discussed what a poem is and made our own class poem (please see photos in the gallery).

In Maths, the children have been learning about the properties of squares and rectangles. We have discussed the fact that they have 4 sides and 4 corners. Some may even remember the terminology for corners that is used in Year 5/6—do ask if they can remember!

In Phonics, the children have learned the sounds /y/, /z/, /zz/, /qu/ and /ch/. They have also learned the following harder-to-read and spell words: we, me, be. I have been looking at our children’s understanding of phonics this week and have noticed that many are finding the harder-to-read and spell words tricky. Please use the sheet I sent home a few weeks ago to go over them regularly, as well as practising our new sounds.

In PSHE, the children have been sharing about special people in their lives and what it means to be a ‘valued person’.

In RE, Mr O’Brien was looking at Diwali and Rangoli patterns again, reinforcing our previous learning.

This week we have started to learn some of the songs for the Nativity. These are ambitious songs for our little ones, so any practice you can do at home will be amazing. For those children who chose to have lines, please make sure they know them by next week. The stage is going up and I would love to try a run-through with the class.

Thank you to everyone who has sent in wellington boots. They are very helpful in this weather. We do try to get out as much as possible when it isn’t raining.

A big thank you to you all for the mufti gifts for non-uniform day.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Kindest regards,
 

Mrs Sharma

Week commencing 3.11.25

Dear Reception Family,

A shorter week this week! It was so lovely to be greeted with so much love and so many smiles. I truly believe the children missed me as much as I missed them! We began with a holiday catch-up, where the children shared some of their highlights from their time off school — so many trips to the park! Grown-ups, you must have been shattered!

This week we started our new book, “Billy’s Bucket” by Kes Gray — a story about a boy who wanted a bucket for his birthday. We had a present already wrapped up, and the children had to guess what might be inside. We then played Pass the Parcel and had a dance party with balloons to celebrate Billy’s birthday. We also talked about how each of us celebrates our own birthdays. We even had our own yellow bucket to explore — Mrs Sharma nearly got bitten on the nose by a shark but then found a maths bear instead! Do ask your child what they saw in the bucket.

In Phonics, the children have learned the sounds /j/, /v/, /w/ and /x/, as well as some new tricky words: he, she, and buses.

This week I introduced a new weekly writing activity. This will be a fantastic opportunity for the children to see their progress over the year and to celebrate how amazing their writing will become.

In Maths, we have been learning about the numbers 4 and 5 — counting and sorting objects, and really understanding what each number means, both in quantity and digit form. We’ve also been enjoying number songs to help reinforce our learning.

In PSHE, we discussed how to stay safe around fireworks, as well as who is in our families and what makes each family special.

As the weather begins to turn, please remember to send your child with named wellington boots. We have a wonderful outdoor area that we’d love to continue using, but the grass is getting quite muddy and we’d like to keep our classroom clean and dry.

It was lovely to see so many families on Tuesday at Parents’ Evening, and I’m looking forward to meeting my final group this coming Tuesday. There are still a few spaces left for those who haven’t yet booked.

Have a wonderful and restful weekend.

Kindest regards

Mrs. Sharma

20.10.25

Dear Reception Families,

This week was Geography week, and Reception class learned all about Liverpool!

At the start of the week, we looked at a map of the UK. We focused on Berkshire to identify where we live, and then located Liverpool, discussing how we might travel there from Maidenhead.

The children discovered that the world’s first passenger railway line was built in Liverpool in 1830, connecting the city to Manchester. We also learned about the history of the Liverpool docks and how food was brought over from different countries by ship. The children enjoyed finding out about Liverpool Football Club and The Beatles, who came from the city too!

We explored Meols Beach, noticing how it has both sandy and stony areas, and talked about what we might take with us for a trip to the beach. Today, the children had fun making jam sandwiches to take home as a treat — we discussed how this might be something we’d pack for a picnic by the seaside. We used google maps on the board to explore the areas in glorious technicolor!

In Maths, we have been learning about circles and triangles. The children identified that a circle has one curved side, while a triangle has three corners and three sides. We spotted circles and triangles during our fun Halloween Maths session, all dressed up in our costumes for the school disco! We have also started practising writing numbers 1–5.

Please continue to support your child with their phonics over the half-term. I am sending book 5 home again as the children were less confident with these sounds. Ask them what ‘b’ is for! Encourage them to make simple CVC words using the sounds we have learned and to recognise their harder to read and spell words.

After half term, children will be expected to come to school on Tuesdays wearing their PE kits, as we will no longer be changing in school.

We would also like to make the most of our outdoor area, so please could you send your child to school with a pair of wellington boots that can be kept in school. While we do have some spare boots available, they are of mixed sizes, and it’s always nicer for children to wear their own!

If you haven’t already please don’t forget to book your Parents Evening slot!

Finally, please ensure that all school items are clearly labelled with your child’s name.

Thank you for your support.

Wishing you all a safe and happy half-term break!

Kindest regards,
Mrs Sharma

Week beginning 14.10.25

Dear Reception Families,

This week, we continued our learning around the topic of Diwali. The children watched a video showing how people celebrate Diwali, which led to some lovely class discussions. We also revisited video clips explaining the story of Rama and Sita to help us understand the origins of the festival. Last week, we made diyas out of clay, and this week we enjoyed decorating them with bold and bright colours and silver details—they look wonderful!

In Phonics, the children have learned the following sounds:
/h/, /b/, /f/, /ff/, /l/, /ll/
We have also learned the following harder to read and spell words: pull, as, and his.
Last week, I sent home a sheet listing all the phonics sounds and tricky words we’ve covered so far this term. Please continue to refer to this sheet and support your child in practising both the sounds and words, alongside their weekly reading task.

In Maths, we focused on understanding ‘one more’ and ‘one less’. We took a very visual and practical approach—this included Mrs Sharma gaining one more child at a time or sending them away to show one less! One session even involved Mrs Sharma needing more hugs (or fewer!) depending on how she was feeling. Ask your child about what happened with the chocolate fingers—they’ll be excited to share!

In PSED, we had our final session on feelings and played bingo for the first time. The children were fantastic at matching emotions to the correct pictures. We’ve had lots of discussions about how we can feel more than one emotion at the same time—just like the Colour Monster.

Next week, the PTFA are hosting a Halloween Disco. Reception will have their turn during the school day. Halloween costumes are optional, but if your child would like to wear one, please ensure it is clearly named. Due to the timing of the disco, we will be sending the children home in their costumes.

While we’ve received lots of compliments on how beautifully and quietly Reception moves around the school (thank you!), we’ve also been having some important discussions in class. We’ve been talking about the importance of completing our learning tasks before moving on to play and practicing good listening on the carpet.

Before I go, I’d like to say a big thank you to all of our packed lunch families for providing healthy lunches, and to our school dinner families for pre-selecting meals at home. This really helps us transition quickly into our phonics sessions in the mornings—your support is very much appreciated!

Have a wonderful and restful weekend—only one week to go, and we have some very tired little ones!

Kindest regards,
Mrs Sharma

Week Beginning 6.10.25

Dear Reception Families,

It has been a very busy and exciting week in Reception!

This week, we began our topic on Diwali — the Hindu 'Festival of Lights'. The children learned about the characters and events in the Diwali story, and we explored how the festival is celebrated today. We talked about how families prepare for Diwali by creating colourful Rangoli patterns near their front doors, lighting diva lamps, sharing sweets with friends and family, and enjoying delicious food. We listened to some Bhangra music — a lively tune you might hear at a Diwali party — and even had a go at some Indian dancing! The children had lots of fun making their own clay diva lamps. They are now patiently waiting for them to dry so we can decorate them next week.

In Maths, we have been learning all about the numbers 1, 2, and 3. The children have been practising subitising — recognising how many objects there are without counting. You can support your child at home by using the White Rose app and selecting the Subitising activity:
👉 https://whiteroseeducation.com/1-minute-maths

In Phonics, we learned the /ss/ sound and have been reviewing previous sounds. The children have been applying their learning in words, sentences, and ‘harder to read and spell’ words. A letter has been sent home in the purple folders with more details about Phonics. We have also been working on writing our own names this week. 

As part of our Black History Month focus, we are celebrating Black British authors and musicians. This week, we read You Can Do Anything, Tyrone! by Lenny Henry — a lovely story about a boy and his grandad going on imaginary adventures. Inspired by the story, the children made their own rockets and towers using building bricks.

We’ve also been listening to music by Black British musicians and had so much fun dancing to songs by JLS, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Billy Ocean — to name just a few!

Finally, I’d like to say a big thank you for your continued support — especially with coats, water bottles, and meal choices. It really makes a difference.

Kindest regards,
Mrs Sharma

Week beginning 29.9.25

Dear Reception Family,

We hope you have all had a lovely week. We have been doing lots of learning this week and have enjoyed having our photographs taken twice. We had smashing feedback from the photographer about how sensible we were and how smiley! I was supporting the photographer and saw all the images come through – it is safe to say we have a very photogenic class.

Our main focus this week has been having our listening eyes, ears and bottoms ready on the carpet. The children are learning that we have focused learning sessions as well as learning through play. We appreciate it is hard to transition from continuous play and are supporting the pupils with expectations.

This week we have covered the sounds in phonics /ck, /e/, /u/ and /r/ and the harder to read and spell words 'to', 'go' and 'into’.  If you could please support your child in recognising the sounds and supporting your child with forming the letter (this can be on paper, in mud, flour, writing on your back etc). Thank you with your support with reading at home. I can certainly see a difference if they are practicing their sounds four times a week.

In Maths, the children have been learning 'repeating patterns'.  We discussed what 'repeat' means as well as where we might find repeating patterns (clothes, on table clothes and on the computer).  We have made various repeating patterns with conkers, bears, cubes and anything else we found. You may find the following link useful for playing repeating pattern games:

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ordering-and-sequencing/shape-patterns

In our story of "Ruby's Worry", we explored environments such as garden, park and beach and what we might find there. We made a story map of the story, recalling key events. We also compared our feelings with colours. This led us to explore primary and secondary colours. We had super fun colour mixing and making our own worries.

Please can we remember our harvest festival donations from Monday onward please.

Thank you for your continued support.

Kindest regards

Mrs. Sharma

Week beginning 22.9.25

Dear Reception Family,

We have had a very busy week establishing routines. Children went to their first celebration assembly today which was lovely. They enjoyed celebrating achievements with the whole school.

This week we continued our topic based on "Ruby's Worry".  The children discussed with their 'talk partner' who we might speak to when we're feeling worried.  We ‘wrote’ messages to Ruby with pictures to Ruby.

In Phonics, the children have learned sounds /g/, /o/, /c/ and /k/ as well as the following 'harder to read and spell words' ('put, 'of' and 'is').

Please continue to support your child with recognising the words that we have covered to date (so that they can recognise them by sight when reading). To help you with sounds Mr Thorne on Youtube is excellent at demonstrating how the sounds should be said. Ideal if you have not had any previous experience of phonics.

Just a little polite reminder that books will be changed on Fridays so it is important for the purple folder to come into school on Friday so we can send home the sounds we have focused on this week.

We have been practicing and focusing on using our ‘magic words’ this week and talked about how manners are free and cost us nothing but make people smile. The children have shown how polite they are in the dining room with lots of pleases and thank yous.

In Maths, we have been learning about size (vocabulary included 'big, little, large, same, match, biggest, smallest); comparing amounts (vocabulary 'more, fewer', 'more than', 'less than'); comparing and ordering by height (taller, tallest, taller than, shorter than, shortest) and compared length (long, longest, longer than, short, shorter than and shortest). We did this very practically using resources in the room available to us so the children could visualize this and be part of it.

As well as establish routines, we have really been focusing on looking after the resources we have in the class. We have discussed the importance of taking care of our resources and personal items and making sure we play with them correctly and that we put them away properly so we can enjoy them for the whole year.

Please remember on Wednesday next week we have individual photos and on Thursday the Maidenhead Advertiser is coming in to take ‘My first Class’ photos.

Thank you for your continued support.

Kindest regards

Mrs. Sharma

Week beginning 16.9.24

Dear Reception Family,

Thank you for sending the children in with water bottles and coats this week. I am very keen to make the most of our wonderful Reception garden and will take the kids out if there is a little drizzle! The children have settled into the lunchtime routine brilliantly and have been complimented by many staff on how well they are doing. I am incredibly proud of them.

This week we started learning on our topic based on story "Ruby's Worry".  It's a story about Ruby who has a worry which she finds gets smaller when she shares it.  Before sharing the story, we talked about feelings and how they can vary using the monsters from ‘The Colour Monster.’ They all enjoyed the story and we will be doing more work exploring the story and the characters next week.

In Phonics the children have learned sounds /i/, /n/, /m/ and /d/.

They have also learned the following 'harder to read and spell words' (which you can't sound out), 'I', 'a', 'the' and 'no'.

Please do continue to support your child with recognising sounds covered (I will update the webpage weekly with details); recognising the 'harder to read and spell words' and blending words for reading – you may be lucky and see some ‘robot arms!’ Books will be changed on Fridays so it is important for the purple folder to come into school on Friday so we can send home the sounds we have focused on this week.

In Maths we have been learning about things that are the same and different. We have been using bears and buttons comparing them and seeing if they ‘match’ or not. The children reinforced their learning by plying memory games with Gruffalo cards, matched up bears and colored cubes.

In PSHE, we have been looking at 'coping strategies' such as when we might feel angry or cross.  We shared ways to help us feel calm such as breathing, counting to ten and moving ourselves away until we feel calm.

In RE we will look at 'why we are special.' It would be wonderful if you could send in a family photo for next Tuesday so the children can talk to their friends about their family.

Have a wonderful and restful weekend and I look forward to seeing my children on Monday. 

Thank you for your continued support.

Mrs. Sharma

Week beginning 7.09.25

Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome to the Larchfield Reception family. I cannot thank you enough for your help and support getting your child ready for the start of their school journey. Thank you for naming their clothing, water bottles and coats. It makes it a lot easier to reunite objects with their owners. Please can I remind you all to send in a water bottle and a coat every day. Thank you.

What a fantastic first week we have had for our learners! Our main focuses have been settling into school, learning some of our routines but most importantly making new friends. It has been wonderful to see the children playing together exploring their new environment and establish great bonds with the adults supporting them. Their enthusiasm has been outstanding!

We have started Phonics, and the children have learned sounds /s/, /a/, /t/ and /p/. We have started our phonics books and have had the opportunity to write these sounds. Please do support your child with recognizing the sounds covered (I will update the webpage weekly with details).

Today we have sent the children home with reading books. These focus on the sounds we have been working on in phonics. Please ensure that your child is reading their ELS book a minimum of four times a week. Books will be changed on a Friday. Please write in the reading record every time you listen to your child read and work on the sounds with them. Supporting the learning we do in class is invaluable and we really appreciate your support at home – thank you.

This week the children were paired up with a year 5 buddy to support them in the dining room and outside at playtime. A wonderful opportunity for our year 5s to be role models and for our Reception children to have a mentor. I love the fact I get asked when their buddy is coming from around 11am so the buddies have certainly made a positive impression! If I could take this as an opportunity to remind you to talk to your child about menu choices and pick these together at the weekend the children won’t be surprised when their food is dished up.

Finally, Mrs Kearny visited on Wednesday, their first full day, to gift the children a Larchfield bear. The children were overjoyed to receive one and have promised not to feed them porridge but to feed them with love and cuddles instead.

Have a wonderful and restful weekend. You are going to have some very tired little ones.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mrs Sharma