Schools pass their 3000 plus

This month the schools section notched up their 3,000th registered school. In this article EDWIN WHITELEY, head of schools, writes about the joys and tribulations of producing programmes for youngsters.

The number of schools and colleges registered with the schools section of the company is now just over 3,000. This milestone has been reached six months before we celebrate the tenth anniversary of schools television broadcasting on May 13, 1967. The steady and happy progress from the original 80 viewing schools in 1957 to the present figure is something of which we can, as a company, be justly proud and it is to the credit of those whose faith and foresight led to the pioneering of the venture. They acted while others were still considering and their enterprise has been rewarded. Milestones, however, stand to record past achievement and incentives to further progress. There is still some way to go and we must not be satisfied until all the schools in our region are with us.

We shall fail those who have gone before if we do not press forward with converting other schools to television viewing, not only through publicity but, more important, through the excellence of our programmes. The section is encouraged by the example and continuing zeal of Paul Adorian, who initiated educational television broadcasts and John McMillan whose interest and support continues unabated. ‘Schools’ as we are regularly (and affectionately!) known, gets a hold on people. Once involved in any way, it seems that, even if people are not in the front line, they are eager to act as auxiliary and supporting troops. The list is long but it is not invidious to single out for mention Enid Love, Bob McPherson, the late John Mackay, John Frankau and Martin Worth. They, and many others, have laid solid foundations for advanced building and have handed to us a charge which we accept and try to fulfil. Theirs, largely, is the credit for what has been achieved. But now to the future.

In any enterprise there must be continuity and, in our case, this is personified in those who have been in the schools section since the beginning. The basis of the operation is the allying of stimulating educational concepts to professional television expertise. Charles Warren, whose name is almost synonymous with schools television, Fernau Hall, whose fervour remains undiminished, and Robert Stead, who has served the section in different capacities, are our link with the past and an energy source for the future. They remind us that we must be forward-looking in our programmes and techniques and be worthy of our inheritance. To use the ‘in’ words, we are committed and involved.

The success of what we have done stems from the fact that we are able to use the resources of a big company. When you hear: ‘I like working for schools’ from the technical and production sides of the company, it gives great pleasure and a realisation that our services get a grip not only on the section, but on many others. We are grateful for all the enthusiastic support we receive, especially when we embark on something new and challenging. Nothing exemplifies this better than the ‘Teachers and Television’ project which we have started this year. The day of the large propagandist conference is probably past and the way forward lies through special working days when we bring the teachers in to meet those working in the studios. To have some 40 teachers let loose in the studios making their own short programmes and seeing the technical operation at first hand presents the studio and production staff with a ‘facer’.

We produce some 140 programmes a year for a wide variety of schools. Together with the series produced by Granada and ATV, we cater for classes ranging from about seven to eighteen years of age. It is a special audience and one with which we are perhaps more personally involved than is the case for general television programmes. The education officers, whose job is to bring new ideas to the series, from a background of experience, have to be in close and constant touch with teachers and children and new educational thinking. They go out to view and discuss with the audience and it is a highly critical audience from which they cannot be divorced. Our schools liaison officer and the schools information officer are also involved in dealing with enquiries and contacts with schools. Our directors, who bring their professional experience to the making of series, have to be aware of the schools as well. They, too, go out to visit viewing classes and have to ask themselves continually the question: If I were a pupil, what would I like to be shown, told and asked to do?’ This feeling of having the audience so close to us permeates the whole of the section and explains the grip and sense of purpose which schools broadcasting has on all — manager, script editor, stage managers, PAs, secretaries, as well as everyone already mentioned.

We feel that our viewers are friends and we cultivate them as such. We expect them to be candid and their comments prove that they are. With such a complex audience, the reports we regularly receive range from the complimentary to the condemnatory, although there usually is a fair balance between the two. We shall continue in our self-appointed task of providing teachers with a stimulation and in their work, extend the range of our broadcasts to meet new needs and not rest until we have all schools registered with us.