Children and staff at St Antony’s Catholic Primary school in Woodford Green welcomed their MP Iain Duncan Smith to the school last week.

Mr Duncan Smith toured a number of classes talking to all the children and inquiring about their daily school life. He also spoke to the primary school students about his job as MP for Chingford and Woodford Green and secretary of state for work and pensions.

Year five pupils from St Antonys Primary wrote an account of the day, which said: “To the year fives, he shared his knowledge about Victorian times. He also asked if we like to go up chimneys or work in the mines and told us that Lord Shaftesbury stopped this from happening.

“It was good to meet a person who makes the rules of the country and we are thinking about how we might ask for changes - even though he said we could not ask for no school.”

The students were eager to hear all about the members of Parliament, as they have an upcoming trip to Parliament and Big Ben scheduled for the autumn term.