Schools broadcasting continues to borrow from mainstream television, importing high-profile presenters and using game shows, sitcoms and other familiar genres to educative ends. Primary school maths, for example, has discovered the game show, and adapted it for Megamaths (BBC2, from January 7), Maths Mansion 2 (Channel 4) and Maths Challenge (BBC2, both from January 9). Star Maths 4 (Channel 4, from January 10) is the exception here: no game show, but lots of animation and graphics coming to the aid of solving various mathematical problems.

Time travel is not only for sci-fi; it provides an obvious device for making history fun. So we join a group of 21st-century children as they go back into the past to experience the daily life of their counterparts in Tudor England (How We Used to Live, Channel 4, from January 10).

Then, on Channel 4 from January 11, there is an imaginative drama about James VI (or James I for those south of the border), King Jamie and the Angel. And, at the end of this month, Tony Robinson is the obvious choice to front a series called Local History Search (Channel 4). It sounds like a cross between Time Team and Antiques Roadshow: members of the public bring in documents and artefacts which illuminate the history of their locality.

In March, How We Used to Live (Channel 4) goes back to Ancient Egypt, and Landmarks (BBC2) recalls the often harsh life of Victorian children. No game shows at school for them. Also for primary school pupils, Book Box (Channel 4, from January 11) continues its series on children’s writers, explaining what’s so good about Jacqueline Wilson, J K Rowling and Jamila Gavin.

In February, Geography Junction (Channel 4) heads for Pakistan, and from January 28 there are sparkling new Animated Tales of the World (Channel 4) from Australia, Burkina Faso, Denmark and other far-flung places. The many short films in that series were made by animators in different countries for an international audience and Channel 4 has had the foresight to show five of the tales in their French, German and Spanish versions, for use in modern language classes in secondary school (from March). In the same three languages, Extra (Channel 4, from January 11) is a sitcom in which one of the characters just happens to be learning the target language - EastEnders with euros?

There is a lot of new work for secondary schools in PSHE, including a football drama, Offside (BBC2, from January 22), which tackles multiculturalism in the context of a group of players with different backgrounds. We Are From (Channel 4, from January 10) listens to children in various European countries talking about how they live. Once Upon a Planet (Channel 4, from February 20) is designed to increase understanding of global issues, including Third World debt, climate change and pollution. And two new programmes for Off Limits use video diaries, music, drama and comedy to help 14 to 16-year-olds understand about Growing Up Gay (Channel 4, from February 28).

Animation, graphics, documentary, comedy and drama will also combine to make maths fun for Year 7 in The Maths Channel (BBC2, from March), while Maths 4 Real 2 (Channel 4, from January 8) continues to employ a variety of techniques (and, apparently, as few words as possible) to make quite complex topics not only comprehensible but entertaining. The emphasis in the first weeks is on algebra and handling data.

In Big Questions: the Nature of Scientific Enquiry (Channel 4, from January 8), Adam Hart-Davis will be doing much the same as he does in his series for mainstream television, describing how five local heroes have helped to make sense of the universe. New materials for English include what promises to be a fascinating annotated anthology of English poetry, Arrows of Desire (Channel 4, from February 8). And there are three new series for technology, starting with Design for Life (Channel 4, from January 11): no gimmicks, just well-made objects and how they came to be.

There is plenty of material for teachers to use outside school hours (though not all the slots have been finalised at the time of writing). BBC2 starts a history of the English Civil War on January 7, presented by Dr Tristram Hunt. Later in the month, Tony Robinson is back, this time digging up London’s oldest bridge and a unique Roman god, in a new series of Time Team (Channel 4); Timewatch and Horizon are also due back, on BBC2.

Further ahead, Channel 4 has what promises to be an informative history of our War Against France, a couple of centuries ago (from March).

Children are not forgotten, as viewers or viewed. Stig of the Dump (BBC1, from January 6) and The Story of Tracy Beaker (BBC1, from January 8) should help to ease them into the new term. But if they can’t stop watching television, they may end up as subjects for BBC1‘s new series on Childhood Obesity. It reveals a serious problem, which we are not tackling effectively.