C4 Mondays, October 7 and 14 10.30-10.50am

The final two episodes of this excellent series on aspects of life in modern China, for 14 to 16-year-olds, visit the Beibei shoe factory near Shanghai and the city itself. The shoe factory is an example of a “township enterprise”, set up by a rural commune as a light industry. Good location and hard work have made it a success, so that it now employs migrant workers as well as local ones; the films show a young worker of each type. In Shanghai, we meet another migrant worker, a schoolgirl who lives in an old part of the city and a bank employee in the business district of Pudong. The films give an impression of different lifestyles in China and also illustrate broader themes to do with industrial location and urban development. All five in the series are available on one cassette, as well as a book, teacher’s notes and a poster (from 4Learning, PO Box 400, Wetherby, LS23 7LG).

AD1: Vespasian, the Man Who Rescued Rome

C4 Monday, October 7

9-10pm

Channel Four’s mini-season on Ancient Rome includes a film on Pompeii and a modern restaging of a chariot race, but the central thread is these three episodes on the Roman Empire.

The programme started with an investigation by Jonathan Freedland into the reasons for Rome’s success. This week, we have a portrait of one of the more successful of the Casears, the Emperor Vespasian, a ruler who seems to have been more interested in managing the affairs of his empire than in making his horse a consul or ensuring his own deification. The final two programmes assess the appeal of Paganism and the real Anthony and Cleopatra. On the website www.chann4.comhistory you can find The Traveller’s Guide to the Roman Empire, with information and a passable chariot race game.

Techno: Making It

BBC2 Wednesday, October 9

2-4am

A five-part series on technology, being broadcast for overnight transmission, in which real-life subjects and animated film allow students of 11 to 14-years to follow designs of a go-kart, a bass, a balloon, a piece of armour and a bridge from conception to finished product. It is followed by Opening Up Technology, a short programme explaining what technology means to different products. There is a teacher’s booklet available for the series.

Off Limits: Growing Up Gay

C4 Thursdays, 10.25-10.50am

The first of these two programmes for PSHE, for 14 to 19-year-olds, uses a soap opera form to explore a young man’s experience of discovering that he is gay - a situation that is not improved when the school’s most homophobic, macho type becomes his step-brother (the message seems to be that there’s no accounting for the sexual preferences of parents).

The second part consists in five personal films made by young gays who talk about their lives. The aim is to increase self-awareness among pupils and to make them more sensitive to difference. Bullying is also a central theme of the first film. Both parts are available on video.

Robin Buss

For full schedules: www.channel4.co.uklearningmainprogrammesautumn2002.cfmwww.bbc.co.ukscho olswhatsontvindex.shtml