C4 Tuesdays and Wednesdays, October 7 and 8, October 14 and 15, 4-5.40am

As well as being broadcast on Wednesday and Thursday mornings from now until the end of term, all four parts of the primary school series Maths Mansion are going out for overnight recording. Children are trapped inside the mansion in each 10-minute slot and have to solve problems if they are to escape, starting with simple stuff such as multiplying by 10, but going on to such fiendish tortures as long multiplication, fractions and decimals.

The Maths Channel

BBC2 Tuesday, October 7, 2-4am

Maths is also flavour of the week on BBC2‘s overnight slot for secondary schools, starting with this eight-parter for 11 to 14-year-olds, designed to motivate low achievers (and as consolidation work for others). It deals with decimals, fractions, percentages, elementary algebra, shapes, measures and data handling; and is followed at the same time on Wednesday by two Maths File programmes applying maths to other curriculum subjects, first art and design, then travel and tourism (showing how to use maths for currency conversion, for example).

History in Action

C4 Tuesdays and Wednesdays, October 8-22, 5.40-6am

The Home Front Through Home Movies uses an unusual, but valuable resource to tell the story of life on the home fronts in Britain and Germany during the Second World War, starting with a record of how the war affected children, then recalling the Blitz, resistance, work and finally victory or defeat. As well as the home movies, there is testimony from survivors; giving the view from both sides shows how similar life was for many civilians in both countries, as well as highlighting differences.

Extra classroom activities available at www.channel4.comsecondary The Human Mind

BBC1 Wednesdays, until October 15, 9-10pm

Professor Robert Winston introduces this series on the workings of the human mind from behind his usual Groucho moustache while poised on the edge of a rocky promontory. If the human mind can overcome these distractions, it will discover that he has a lot of interesting things to say - about the role of Omega 3 in memory, about learning new skills and about those “eureka!” moments when everything falls into place. Jolly fascinating stuff - and not too bally hard on the old grey matter, either... And it shows that Jeeves was right about fish being food for the brain.

Full listings can be found at:www.bbc.co.ukschoolsguidetv_schedule.shtmlsecondary_month.shtmlwww.ch annel4.comlearningmainprogrammestv_schedule.htmwww.discoverychannel.co.uklt;NIPgt;