School Day

BBC1

Wednesday, May 5, 10.35-11.35pm

School Day fixes 24 hours in Britain’s educational system, from a primary school in the north of Scotland via an inner-city school in Sheffield to a government minister in Whitehall. Produced for the Open University by Steve Greenwood, the film is, in his words, an attempt “to capture the reality of our education system through the eyes of those who work in it”. The day was the one on which the GCSE league tables were announced; and this “allowed us to illustrate the constantly changing political environment that people are working in and how they react to this environment as the media fuel the fire around them”. Those in the front line include a trainee teacher in Liverpool, an OU maths student, and School Standards minister David Miliband. Everyone involved has a personal perspective - but what they see is likely to differ from the stereotypes of the popular press.

GCSE Bitesize Revision: French

BBC2

Friday, May 7, 2-6am

Today’s Bitesize Revision supports the Schools History Project, with material on the American West and the history of medicine. Next Friday sees the start of a series on modern languages: French, German and Spanish. The programmes give examples of questions on reading, speaking, listening and writing, and useful hints on how to approach the papers. www.bbc.co.

ukrevision

Pathways of Belief

BBC2

Thursday, May 8, 1.35-10.50am, 11.05-11.20am

Islam and Christianity come face to face, with the second part of the section on Islam in this series for seven to nine-year-olds, followed later in the day by the second part of the section on Christianity. Both strands, covering Islam, Sikhism and Christianity, are available in videoplus packs at pound;34.99 each (BBC Customer Services, tel: 0870 830 8000).

Words and Pictures Plus

BBC2

Tuesday, May 6, 1.15-1.50pm

The series on spelling strategies for five to six-year-olds continues its journey through the long vowel sounds with “The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch”, a story introducing two spelling patterns for the long “i” sound: “igh” and “i-e”. This is followed next week by “Little Rabbit Foo Foo” (“oo” and “ew”). Poetry and documentary help reinforce what has been learned in the stories and the website (www.bbc.co.uk schoolswordsandpictureslongvow) has further activities, including a scrapbook and games.