The schools pres and the BBC equivalent are of an era before video recorders when we were shepherded into the "TV room" to watch programmes as they went out.
By the time that pres was dropped its purpose was redundant.
That might have been the original purpose of the countdown, but it had other uses too. For one, it allowed a teacher/assistant to easily queue up a recording using the scan function.
Having schools-specific presentation also served a basic function in that it allowed an average viewer flicking around to understand that the programming on air now/next is not intended for them.
Also with lots of padding and programmes starting bang on time, teachers didn't have to worry about missing off the start on the recording.
It also helped when playing the videos as in my experience almost every teacher used to have trouble operating school VCRs, not knowing how to play, pause, fast forward, rewind, not knowing how to tune to the channel with the VCR output on, going via a grainy picture of ITV and seeing Richard and Judy, or which would be even more exciting, happening past BBC2 when one of the Children's BBC slots was on.
We never watched TV live in the 90s but did have those massive TVs in locked cupboards on trolleys that would wheel from classroom to classroom as required.
I'm sure ITV would be thrilled to know their 60 year legacy is rooted in millions of children sitting in their classrooms waiting for Let's Go Maths to start.
particular as Schools didn't use the 3D version of it
Eh? This was used a LOT when ITV Schools moved to Channel Four in the mid-to-late 80s (allowing TV Daytime to launch), and before the 1992 split between ITV and C4 when ITV stopped selling and playing-out C4's advertising.
It also helped when playing the videos as in my experience almost every teacher used to have trouble operating school VCRs, not knowing how to play, pause, fast forward, rewind, not knowing how to tune to the channel with the VCR output on, going via a grainy picture of ITV and seeing Richard and Judy, or which would be even more exciting, happening past BBC2 when one of the Children's BBC slots was on.
Yep, the TV we used always needed tuning in from scratch, I don't know if it was that it couldn't hold a preset or just it was never set. This was one of the classic old Phillips sets with the 6 channel buttons labelled BBC1,2,3 and ITV1,2,3
I was always the one to help out our teacher in primary school, the year I left there was the year they moved from ITV to Ch4, I've no idea if she ever found it
It also helped when playing the videos as in my experience almost every teacher used to have trouble operating school VCRs, not knowing how to play, pause, fast forward, rewind, not knowing how to tune to the channel with the VCR output on, going via a grainy picture of ITV and seeing Richard and Judy, or which would be even more exciting, happening past BBC2 when one of the Children's BBC slots was on.
This legacy continues today. It would appear that those of an older generation can struggle with technology due to the increase in remote controls and the number of buttons on said remotes. An older relative of mine still cannot comprehend having access to more than four channels., and when Freeview push out the "retune your box " messages, off I often end up trotting up there to press Menu -> Setup -> Channel Scan on the remote control.
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We never watched TV live in the 90s but did have those massive TVs in locked cupboards on trolleys that would wheel from classroom to classroom as required.
Snap. My primary school was extended in the early 1990s both horizontally and vertically with a new extension, and every floor in the extension had its own TV and VCR trolley. Of course these days with the advert of Smart Boards, laptops and projectors, you don't need to wheel TV/VCR trolleys from class to class.
which made the tedious documentaries we had to sit through in Geography a little more amusing until the teachers worked it out and started covering up the remote sensor.
which made the tedious documentaries we had to sit through in Geography a little more amusing until the teachers worked it out and started covering up the remote sensor.
I owned one of these as well. The TV suddenly went off during a screening of the class films we made and someone had one of these watches and confessed to me they turned the TV off with their watch, so impressed I ended up buying one too!
We had a normal 80s TV with the channels stored. However, initially we had to make do with a portable aerial, not the hoop type you'd get with small portables (God, they were crap) but a proper roof-style one. The teacher would stick it on the TV and spin it about until there was a good enough picture. Usually, the first thing we'd see would be the ITV Schools roto looking like it was taking place in a heavy hailstorm as the teacher messed with the aerial. The school was rewired while I was there and the new electrical installation included a roof aerial with cabled drops into each of the classroom providing a coaxial socket which the telly could be plugged straight into. Not quite as fun but that's progress, 1989-style.
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