There has been lots of heads down and hard work happening in Year Four this afternoon. We have been piecing together all of our History and Geography learning from this half term, finding answers to the question 'How has chocolate changed our world?'. We have been exploring The Maya civilisation, explorers travelling new lands and the chocolate industry around the world. We have read and researched how cocoa beans made their way from Mesoamerica to Europe as well as how cocoa beans are actually turned into Chocolate. We have found out so many interesting facts including that The Maya people first used cocoa beans to make a hot, spicy frothy drink! A long way away from the chocolate bars we know and love. They also loved cocoa beans so much that they thought they were a gift from the gods! Can you remember any of the gods they believed in? 

Back to our heads down working ... the children have been creating posters for Hotel Chocolat to kindly display in Festival Place so that their customers can learn about the Historical and Geographical journeys involved in the chocolate they buy. We have been able to learn about Hotel Chocolat's 'Engaged Ethics' initiative whereby they ensure their chocolate production is 100% ethical from root to wrapper. We are very grateful to Hotel Chocolat for giving us this opportunity. 

Have a look at the children at work and a sneak peak of how some of their posters are coming along. You could almost hear a pin drop as the children worked this afternoon ... they certainly are keen to impress their audience!