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''Play School'' is an Australian educational television show for children produced by the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
(ABC). It is the longest-running children's show in Australia and the second-longest-running children's show worldwide after British series ''
Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...
''. An estimated 80% of pre-school children under six watch the program 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. ''Play School'' was admitted to the Logies' Hall of Fame in 2006, the program's 40th anniversary year. It is one of only five Australian television programs to be inducted.


History

''Play School'' premiered on 18 July 1966 and was based on the British program of the same name. (The British version started in 1964 and ended in 1988; the show's format was then sold to Australia.) The first episode began transmitting that day, as the program was originally transmitted live. It has been produced continuously from this time. It has also launched the careers of several Australian actors and television presenters. It was admitted to the Logies'
Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
on its 40th anniversary in 2006, in recognition of the strong influence the show has had on at least three generations of Australian children. ''Play School'' was the third show to enter the Logies' Hall of Fame in its own right, after ''
Four Corners The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...
'' (1992) and ''
Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...
'' (2005). It was also the first children's show inducted into the hall of fame. During the 2006 Logie Awards, a package showing memorable scenes from the show throughout its history was shown, before notable presenters (from past and present) came onto the stage with some of the favourite toys from the show. After these presenters accepted the award, the audience then joined them for a stirring rendition of the ''Play School'' theme. In 1992, a through-the-windows segment featured an early performance by the Australian children's musical group
the Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. The group are currently composed of Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce and Tsehay Hawkins, as well as supporting members Evie Ferris, John Pearce, Ca ...
performing the songs "Get Ready to Wiggle" and "Rock-a-Bye Your Bear" at a day care centre. On Monday 4 July 2011, ''Play School'' updated its opening titles using a combination of
stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
and
computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...
with a new arrangement of the theme song sung by presenters
Jay Laga'aia Jay Laga'aia (born 10 September 1963) is a New Zealand-Australian actor and singer. He is known internationally for his role as Captain Typho in the films '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones'' and '' Star Wars: Episode III – Rev ...
and
Justine Clarke Justine Clarke (born 16 November 1971) is an Australian actress, singer, musician, author and television host. She has been acting since the age of seven and has appeared in some of Australia's best-known TV shows. She is best known as a presen ...
.


50th anniversary

In 2016, ''Play School'' celebrated 50 years on the air and had a month of celebrations. To mark its 50th anniversary, from 4 July the program presented a series of cover songs called ''Play School Celebrity Covers''. List of covers On 18 July at 6:30 pm, ABC also broadcast a special 50th anniversary ''Play School'' celebrity covers special that featured Hamish & Andy singing "There's a Hole in My Bucket"; John Hamblin, "I'm a Little Teapot"; Dan Sultan, "The Wheels on the Bus"; Molly Meldrum and Charlie Pickering, "Nursery Rhyme News"; Delta Goodrem, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" & "Moon Moon"; Benita Collings & Don Spencer, "Teddy Bears Picnic"; Josh Thomas, "Ning Nang Nong"; Annabell Crabb and Leigh Sales, "Singing in the Kitchen"; Guy Sebastian, "Singing in the Rain"; Magda Szubanski, "Old Mother Hubbard"; and You Am I, "One Potato, Two Potato". In 2020, all of the existing Celebrity Covers episodes were rebranded as part of a new spin-off series Play School Show Time, which features new celebrities singing covers of songs from the series. On 8 July 2019, Aboriginal presenters Luke Carroll,
Miranda Tapsell Miranda Tapsell (born 11 December 1987) is an Aboriginal Australian actress of both stage and screen, best known for her role as Cynthia in the Wayne Blair film '' The Sapphires'' and her 2015 performance as Martha Tennant in the Nine Network ...
and
Hunter Page-Lochard Hunter Djali Yumunu Page-Lochard is an Australian stage and screen actor of both Aboriginal Australian and African-American descent. He is known for his roles in the films '' The Sapphires'' (2012), '' Around the Block'' (2013) and '' The Djarn ...
hosted a special episode featuring an
Acknowledgement of Country A Welcome to Country is a ritual or formal ceremony performed as a land acknowledgement at many events held in Australia. It is intended to highlight the cultural significance of the surrounding area to the descendants of a particular Aborigina ...
celebrating Australia's first people, sharing knowledge of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
culture and highlighting the importance of
caring for Country Landcare Australia is the name for a community not-for-profit organisation which involves local groups of volunteers repairing the natural environment. Originally projects focused on agricultural farmland. The idea was that farmers, conservati ...
together. A new doll, "Kiya", was introduced to the program. Matthew Doyle played a
digeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...
.


Spin offs

There have also been various spin-offs from ''Play School'' which have been played on ABC Kids, typically much shorter in duration. These include ''Little Ted's Big Adventure'', ''Big Ted's Big Adventure'', ''Humpty's Big Adventure'', ''Joey's Big Adventure'', ''Play School Story Time'', ''Play School Art Time'', ''Play School Nursery Rhyme News Time'', ''Play School Art Crew'', ''Play School Song Time'', ''Play School Science Time'', ''Play School Show Time'' and ''Play School Story Time: Languages''.


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. 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 program 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 considerable 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 large 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. 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.


Presenters

Australian musician
Don Spencer Donald Richard Spencer (born 22 March 1941),is an Australian children's television presenter, singer-songwriter, and guitarist. He had a long-running role on ''Play School'' on both the Australian version (1968–99) and the United Kingdom ...
is a noted presence on the program, having not only been a presenter for some 28 years but also releasing several related tie-in records. He also appeared with Diana Dorgan, the only presenter to appear on both the Australian and British versions, although
Lorraine Bayly Lorraine Daphne Bayly AM (born 16 January 1937) is an Australian actress of film, television and theatre, presenter, singer, dancer, pianist and theatre director and writer. She is perhaps best known to small screen audiences for her soap ...
briefly appeared on the British version in 1972 as a storyteller ''Play School'' has had many presenters, however several remained (or remain) with the series for a long period. Australian actress
Benita Collings Benita Collings (born 1940) is an Australian theatre, television and film character actress and children's television presenter best known for her role on ABC TV's '' Play School''. Collings has also featured in documentaries and commercials. ...
(30 years) and British-Australian actor
John Hamblin John Reginald Hamblin (18 March 1935 – 21 September 2022), known affectionately as "Funny John" or "Naughty John", was a British-born Australian children's television presenter and actor of stage and screen who appeared in theatre productions ...
(29 years) are the longest-serving. The program's long-term hosts have also included:
Alister Smart Alister Smart (born 1934),GILES, NIGEL "Number 96: Australia's Most Notorious Address" also credited as Alastair Smart, is a retired TV television presenter, presenter, actor, television director and screenwriter from Australia. A staple of the ...
(25 years),
Noni Hazlehurst Leonie Elva "Noni" Hazlehurst , (born 17 August 1953) is an Australian actress, director, writer, presenter and broadcaster who has appeared on television and radio, in dramas, mini-series and made for television films, as well also on stag ...
(23 years), Andrew McFarlane,
Simon Burke Simon Gareth Burke (born 8 October 1961) is an Australian actor, active in films, television and theatre. Biography Simon Burke began his career at the age of 12, starring in Michael Cove's ''Kookaburra''; a painful look at a dysfunctional wo ...
(20 years),
Karen Pang Karen Pang is an Australian film and TV actress and presenter of Chinese descent. Biography Pang graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art'' (NIDA), with a degree in Performing Arts (Acting) in 1990 She has been best known for b ...
(22 years) and
Justine Clarke Justine Clarke (born 16 November 1971) is an Australian actress, singer, musician, author and television host. She has been acting since the age of seven and has appeared in some of Australia's best-known TV shows. She is best known as a presen ...
(21 years). While the show is written by preschool education experts, the presenters are all well-known actors or musicians who can connect well with the target audience.


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
Warren Carr Warren Carr (died 1993) was an Australian singer, composer, producer and musician, specializing in country music, country and rock 'n' roll, although his music was better described as Honky Tonk piano party style. He is best known for his 20-year ...
who served as musical director for over 20 years. The pianists who have worked on ''Play School'' are: * Bill Antman (1966–1972) * Judy Bailey (1970s–1990) * Penny Biggins (1991–1994) *
Warren Carr Warren Carr (died 1993) was an Australian singer, composer, producer and musician, specializing in country music, country and rock 'n' roll, although his music was better described as Honky Tonk piano party style. He is best known for his 20-year ...
(1972–1993) * Peter J Casey (1996–2004) * Ron Creager (1998) * Peter Dasent (2000–present) * Rob Eastwood (2000) – after revamp *
Max Lambert Max Lambert (born 1955) is an Australian composer and musical director. Biography Born in 1955 in Sydney, he studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Lambert composed the musicals ''Darlinghurst Nights'' and ''Miracle City'', both first ...
(1991–1999, 2004) * Paul McDermott (1991–1994) * Brian Castles Onion (2003–2009) * Lindsay Partridge (1994) * Elliott Wilshier (1994–1999) * Franky Valentyn (2000s) * Stuart Hunter (2014–present)


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 Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...
Play School remix competition which, along with two other remixes by
KLP KLP may refer to: *Kommunal Landspensjonskasse, Norwegian mutual insurance company * KLP Eiendom, Norwegian real estate management company *KLP (musician), Australian singer-songwriter, record producer, DJ and radio personality * Kamasa language, IS ...
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 The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...
's
Sounds of Australia The Sounds of Australia, formerly the National Registry of Recorded Sound, is the National Film and Sound Archive's selection of sound recordings which are deemed to have cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance for Australi ...
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) *Very Jazzy Street Party (2022)


Awards and nominations


AACTA Awards


TV Week Logie Awards


ARIA Music Awards


AIMIA Awards


Toys

* Big Ted (teddy bear) (1966–present) * Little Ted (teddy bear) (1966–present) * Hamble (plastic doll) (1966–1993) * Jemima (rag doll) (1966–present) * Humpty (white egg-shaped toy with eyes, nose and mouth, which resembles
Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an anthropomorphic egg, though he is not explicitly described as such. ...
) (1966–present) * Slush (toy pig) (1970s–present) * Maurice (teddy bear) (1987–present) * Meeka (plastic doll of possibly mixed
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
descent) (1993–present) * Dan (plastic doll of
Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
descent) (2010s) * Jim (plastic doll of
Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
descent) (1985-2000s) * Scrap (toy dog) (70s or 80s–present) * Diddle (toy cat) (1966–present) * Fergus (toy frog) (1994–present) * Sam the Lamb (toy lamb) (1980s or '90s–present) * Banana (banana-shaped toy wearing pyjamas, see also ''
Bananas in Pyjamas ''Bananas in Pyjamas'' is an Australian children's television series that first aired on 20 July 1992 on ABC. It has since been syndicated in many countries and dubbed into other languages. In the United States, the "Pyjamas" in the title was ...
'') (1976–2010) * Daisy (toy cow) ('80s or '90s–present) * Henny Penny (toy hen) ('80s or '90s–present) * Goosy Lucy (toy goose) ('80s or '90s) * Kim (plastic doll and Lisa's twin brother which both of them are of
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...
descent) ('80s or '90s–present) * Lisa (plastic doll and Kim's twin sister which both of them are of
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...
descent) (80s or '90s–present) * Darcy (toy donkey) ('90s or 2000s–present) * Henry and Henrietta (toy mice) * Troy And Tony (twin teddy bears) ('90s or 2000s) * Owl (toy owl) ('90s to 2000s–present) * Tippy (toy duck) (2011–present) * Mukundan Jr (toy lion) (2000s or 2010s) * Fido (toy dog) (2000s to 2010s) * Joey (toy kangaroo) Designed by award-winning children's book illustrator Bruce Whatley and introduced in the 50th anniversary edition 'Come to the Party' tx 18 July 2016 by presenter
Miranda Tapsell Miranda Tapsell (born 11 December 1987) is an Aboriginal Australian actress of both stage and screen, best known for her role as Cynthia in the Wayne Blair film '' The Sapphires'' and her 2015 performance as Martha Tennant in the Nine Network ...
. * Kiya (doll of
Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
descent) in an Acknowledgement of Country special for NAIDOC week 2019


Teachings

From the inception of the program, 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 Schools 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 Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spoken l ...
actress Sofya Gollan) of presenters (now almost always a male-female pairing, but sometimes 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.


Controversies


"Two mums"

On 31 May 2004, during a "through the windows" segment narrated by
Brenna Harding Brenna Harding (born May 19, 1996) is an Australian actress, best known for her role as Sue Knight in the television series ''Puberty Blues,'' and her role in " Arkangel", an episode in the anthology series ''Black Mirror''. Career Harding's ...
, the sentence "My Mums are taking me and my friend Merryn to an amusement park." The clip was raised as controversial by sections of the media, and three federal ministers expressed dislike over the screening of the clip. The ABC responded, however, by saying that "''Play School'' aims to reflect the diversity of Australian children, embracing all manner of race, religions and family situations." The producers of the segment also said the segment showed the girl being accompanied by her birth mother and her step mother (hence "two mums") and they believed most people would automatically assume the same. What was shown was taken by the public to be two lesbians taking their child and her friend to an amusement park.


Constructing a "bong"

A 2013 segment showed
Alex Papps Alex Papps (born 11 February 1969) is an Australian actor, television host, writer and singer. Early life Papps, who is of Greek descent, was born in 1969, his parents where both amateur theatre directors. He attended Belgrave Kindergarten Up ...
constructing some kind of contraption which involved a straw inserted through the side of a plastic bottle, which was then filled with hot water, accidentally resembling a
bong A bong (also known as a water pipe) is a filtration device generally used for smoking cannabis, tobacco, or other herbal substances. In the bong shown in the photo, the gas flows from the lower port on the left to the upper port on the right. ...
. This controversy arose again in 2015, when the segment was replayed.


"Grooming" accusation

In October 2022,
Courtney Act Shane Gilberto Jenek (born 18 February 1982), better known under the stage name Courtney Act, is an Australian drag queen, singer and television personality. Courtney first came to prominence competing on the Australian Idol (season 1), first s ...
appeared on an episode of spin-off ''Play School Story Time'', where she read ''The Spectacular Suit'' by Kat Patrick. Her appearance generated considerable media attention when Senator Alex Antic took issue with the ABC inviting a drag queen to read a book to children about a girl who favoured wearing pants instead of a dress, which he described in a
Senate Estimates The committees of the Australian Senate are committees of Senators, established by the Australian Senate, for purposes determined by that body. Senate committees are part of the operation of the Australian parliament, and have for some decade ...
hearing as "grooming". Questioning ABC managing director
David Anderson David Anderson may refer to: People In academia or science *David Anderson (academic) (born 1952), American college professor *David Anderson (engineer) (1880–1953), Scottish civil engineer and lawyer *David Anderson, 2nd Viscount Waverley (1911 ...
, Antic asked why the ABC was "grooming Australian children with this sort of adult content" and asking Anderson whether such content was contributing to a " gender dysphoria problem". Anderson denied this, while Greens senator
Sarah Hanson-Young Sarah Coral Hanson-Young (née Hanson; born 23 December 1981) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for South Australia since July 2008, representing the Australian Greens. She is a graduate of the WEF young global leaders program. ...
accused Antic of using "deeply offensive" language. Act defended her appearance on ''Play School Story Time'' in an opinion piece she wrote in ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'' and during an appearance on '' The Project.''


Logo history

''Play School'' has had a number of openers and logos throughout its long history. Originating as simple animations with vocals from select presenters, the logos and their respective openers have evolved over the many years of the series. The most recent logo, introduced in 2011, features an opener made entirely of
stop-motion animation Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
with vocals by presenters
Justine Clarke Justine Clarke (born 16 November 1971) is an Australian actress, singer, musician, author and television host. She has been acting since the age of seven and has appeared in some of Australia's best-known TV shows. She is best known as a presen ...
and
Jay Laga'aia Jay Laga'aia (born 10 September 1963) is a New Zealand-Australian actor and singer. He is known internationally for his role as Captain Typho in the films '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones'' and '' Star Wars: Episode III – Rev ...
. Play_School_1960s.png, 1966–1975 Play_School_logo_(1980-1990).png, 1976–1987 Play_School_logo_(1990-2003).png, 1987–1999 Play_School_logo_(2003-2011).png, 2000–2011 Play_School_logo_(2011-present).png, 2011–present


Presenters


See also

*
List of Australian television series Future shows Seven * ''The 1% Club'' (Seven Network game show 2023–) * ''Apartment Rules'' (Seven Network reality 2023–) * '' Animals Aboard with Dr Harry'' (Seven Network reality 2023–) * ''Armchair Experts'' (Seven Network sports ...
*
List of programs broadcast by ABC Television This is a list of television programmes that are currently being broadcast or have been broadcast on ABC Television's ABC TV (formerly ABC1), ABC TV Plus (formerly ABC2 and ABC Comedy), ABC Kids (formerly ABC 4 Kids), ABC Me (formerly ABC3) or ...
*
List of longest-running Australian television series Below is a list of all the longest-running Australian television programs, both past and present, that have been broadcast for a minimum of 6–10 years or 6 seasons (or both). All data is updated as of 2 February 2022. Note: Programs with a s ...
* ''
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...
'' * ''
Captain Kangaroo ''Captain Kangaroo'' is an American children's television series that aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for 29 years, from 1955 to 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program ...
'' * ''
Play School (UK TV series) ''Play School'' was a British children's television series produced by the BBC which ran from 21 April 1964 until 11 March 1988. It was created by Joy Whitby and was aimed at preschool children. Each programme followed a broad theme and consisted ...
'' * ''
Play School (New Zealand TV series) ''Play School'' was a New Zealand educational television show for children. It was based on the British '' Play School'' show. The series first aired in 1972, and ended in 1990. Synopsis ''Play School'' was first broadcast in New Zealand on Tues ...
'' * ''
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001, and was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series ''Misterogers'' debut ...
'' * ''
Polka Dot Door Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas. History Etymology The term ...
'' * ''
Play Away ''Play Away'' is a British television children's programme. A sister programme to the infants' series '' Play School'', it was aimed at slightly older children. It ran from 1971 until 1984, and was broadcast on Saturday afternoons on BBC 2.Alist ...
'' * ''
Playdays ''Playdays'' (known as ''Playbus'' until December 1989) is a British pre-school television programme which ran from 1988 to 1997 on CBBC. The show was the successor to '' Play School'' and, like its predecessor, was designed as an educational p ...
'' * ''
Tikkabilla ''Tikkabilla'' is a UK children's television programme, shown on CBeebies. The programme aims to educate pre-school children in an entertaining manner. The title "Tikkabilla" comes from the Hindi word meaning " Hopscotch", a popular children's g ...
'' * ''
Zoom Zoom may refer to: Technology Computing * Zoom (software), videoconferencing application * Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display * Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...
''


Notes


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Play School (Australian Tv Series) 1966 Australian television series debuts 1960s Australian television series 1970s Australian television series 1980s Australian television series 1990s Australian television series 2000s Australian television series 2010s Australian television series ARIA Award winners Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Australian children's television series Australian preschool education television series 1960s preschool education television series 1970s preschool education television series 1980s preschool education television series 1990s preschool education television series 2000s preschool education television series 2010s preschool education television series Black-and-white Australian television shows English-language television shows Television series by Endemol Television series by Endemol Australia Television shows set in Sydney Australian television series based on British television series