Play School (Australian TV series) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Play School
Play School logo (since 2011)
Genre	Children's television
Created by	Joy Whitby
Written by	Henrietta Clark
Presented by	See Presenters
Theme music composer	Richard Connolly (lyrics by Rosemary Milne)
Opening theme	"There's a Bear in There"
Ending theme	"There's a Bear in There" (instrumental)
Country of origin	Australia
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	49
No. of episodes	4,516 (approx.)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Claire Henderson Henrietta Clark John Fox Virginia Lumsden Jan Stradling Allan Kendall
Producer(s)	Allan Kendall Henrietta Clark Ros Lawson John Fox Tracey Ellison Wendy Gray Sophie Emtage Sarah Dabro Byron Hall Natalie Martin
Production location(s)	Australian Broadcasting Corporation Studios
Running time	25–30 minutes
Production company(s)	Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1966–present)
Release
Original network	ABC (Mornings: 18 July 1966 – 29 April 2011) (Afternoons: 1967 – 31 January 2014) ABC2 (Mornings: 2005–2011) (Afternoons: 2005–2011) ABC Kids (Early Mornings: 5 May 2014–29 June 2018) (Mornings: 2 May 2011–present) (Afternoons: 2 May 2011–present)
Picture format	4:3 (1966–2003) (2004–present)
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	18 July 1966 (1966-07-18) – present

Play School is an Australian educational television show for children produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It is the longest-running children's show in Australia, and the second-longest-running children's show worldwide after British series Blue Peter.

An estimated 80% of pre-school children under six watch the programme at least once a week. It is screened three times each weekday on ABC Kids, at 9 am, 11:30 am and 3:30 pm (from 7 July 2014) and twice daily each weekend at 9 am and 3:30 pm.

Format

The format of the show is activities, songs and games with either host passing back to each other at the end of their segment, and frequently joining each other in activities. Each day the presenters look at the calendar to find out which day of the week it is, read a story, and look through the windows. From 1976 to 2000, they had a clock shaped like a rocket, and from 1966 to 2000, a clock shaped like a flower. Until 2000, the windows looked almost exactly like their British counterparts with a few slight differences. They changed the background behind the windows from black to white at the end of 1967 and they then changed it to light blue in 1985. In 1987 Play School had a mild makeover for its 21st anniversary on air; there was a mild cosmetic revamp to the set, with a new set of opening and closing titles with a new version of the theme song sung by presenters, Philip Quast and Jennifer Ludlam. The windows also changed to look like to ones used on the British version of the show, but this change was not well received and the windows reverted to their old style by 1988, which remained until the major 2000 revamp.

Flower clock

In 1992 there was a set revamp with new shelving and coloured tree shapes in the background; this change was done about midway through the 1992 production season, with earlier 1992 episodes retaining the older 1980s set.

Every week there is a common theme running through the programme that the actors reflect upon during the episode; themes include Dinosaurs, Opposites, Zoo Animals, Food, Clothes, Games, Art, Hair, Hats, Shapes, Road Safety and vehicles. Each theme (or block of five episodes) were repeated twice a year on average for a period of six to seven years, before it was recycled and reused in new episodes. As funding was limited, only 45 new episodes were made each year, which means that nine weekly blocks shown each year were new episodes, the rest repeats.

In 2000, the show had a massive revamp, with the rocket and flower clocks and the three windows put in storage in favour of a newer-style Play School. The main clock was now simply called the Play School Clock, which was controlled by one of the presenters standing at the top of the clock and turning a winding device, which caused the clue to the story to slide down a slippery dip. That was soon replaced by the Hickory Dickory Clock which featured clockwork resembling the "Hickory Dickory" nursery rhyme. That was soon replaced by the Train Clock which resembles a train station with a clock above it. The windows were also heavily changed. They were now built into a massive rotating prop which was built underneath the clock (shown one week) and 'controlled' by one of the presenters pulling a lever back and forwards. The windows (now including a diamond window) would spin around and would slowly be eliminated as the window they would look through until they got to the fourth window and the camera would slowly zoom in and fade out into the fill. The order in which they appear is Square~Diamond~Round~Arched~Square. That was soon replaced by windows with animation where Jemima stands next to the round window, Little Ted stands next to the square window, Big Ted stands next to the diamond window and Humpty stands next to the arched window and the window chosen goes through to pre-recorded footage.

Music

Pianists

The program has historically had a musical director, who served as a pianist who played live music to accompany the presenters on each episode. Occasionally the pianist would make an on-camera appearance, one of the more well known being the late Warren Carr, who served as musical director for over 20 years. The pianists who have worked on Play School over the years are:

• Bill Antman (1966–1972)
• Judy Bailey (1970s–1990)
• Penny Biggins (1991–1994)
• Warren Carr (1972–1993)
• Peter J Casey (1996–2004)
• Ron Creager (1998)
• Peter Dasent (2000–current)
• Rob Eastwood (2000) – after revamp
• Max Lambert (1991–1999, 2004)
• Paul McDermott (1991–1994)
• Brian Castles Onion (2003–2004)
• Lindsay Partridge (1994)
• Elliott Wilshier (1994–1999)
• Franky Valentyn (2000s)
• Stuart Hunter (2014–current)

Theme Song

The Play School theme song, "There's a Bear in There", was composed by Australian composer Richard Connolly, with lyrics by Rosemary Milne.

"There's a bear in there,
and a chair as well.
There are people with games,
and stories to tell.
Open wide, come inside;
it's Play School."

in 2016, the song was remixed by Andre Butterworth aka Copycatt as the winner of the Triple J Play School remix competition which, along with two other remixes by KLP and Jondrette Den respectively, appeared on the Play School album Famous Friends: Celebrating 50 Years of Play School.

In 2017 "There's a Bear in There" was inducted into the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry.

Albums

• Hey Diddle Diddle (1976)
• Hickory Dickory (1978)
• Humpty Dumpty (1981)
• Wiggerly Woo (1984)
• There's a Bear in There (1987)
• ...It's Play School (1991)
• The Best of Play School (1993)
• Oomba Baroomba (1994)
• Play School Favourites (1996)
• In The Car (1997)
• Hullabaloo (1999)
• Favourite Play School Nursery Rhymes (2002)
• Hip Hip Hooray (2002)
• Sing-a-Long Songs (2004)
• Let's Play Together (2011)
• Come and Play 45th Anniversary (2011)
• Big Ted, Prince of Bears (2014)
• Favourite Things Songs and Nursery Rhymes from Play School (2014)
• Play School: Jemima's Big Adventure (2015)
• Once Upon a Time (2015)
• Famous Friends: Celebrating 50 Years of Play School (2016)
• Play School: 50 Best Songs (2016)

Awards and nominations

AACTA Awards

TV Week Logie Awards

ARIA Music Awards

AIMIA Awards

Toys

Teachings

From the inception of the programme, the producers of Play School have made efforts to promote equality, playful education, and a love of learning in its audience. Working on Play School has come to be considered an unusually demanding and important job for some actors, because they feel they are becoming part of a generation of children's lives and providing a foundation for learning things that will last for life.

Play School's stated philosophy is to encourage a child 'to wonder, to think, to feel and to imagine'. The duo (sometimes a trio when joined by hearing impaired actress Sofya Gollan) of presenters (now almost always a male-female pairing, but sometimes it is two females or two males) address the child directly and personally, so that every child watching the show feels that they are spending time with two people they know and can trust.

Into this relationship are woven the stories, songs, and activities that form the fabric of Australian children's culture.

Presenters

Former presenters

Images for kids

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  Current presenter Justine Clarke

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  1966–1975

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  1976–1987

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  1987–1999

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  2000–2011

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  2011–present