New look 4 Learning

I've seen a couple of those. Fab music, though the best music is really on the Shell Educational Service Videos (All rocks and Oil stuff). I've also seen many T W O s and several Glass and Garden BBC TWO idents from BBC, and loads of the 1993-7 era Channel 4 countdowns.

The new 60-second filler **** is great, though any 60-second announcerless filler sequence is **** to be great, really. But ECPs on schools programmes?!! **** kids, why don't you **** around and watch the next programme? Your teacher will **** so pleased!

There also no longer seems to be any programme back-up details given at the end.

It seems its all aimed at getting viewers to watch the whole morning of shows, rather than the old system of stand-alone programmes with countdowns before them.

The theme of graffiti and lads in hooded tops is a bit stereotypical though!

Yet so true...

Not here... (Well, no Hooded Tops anyway).

Any caps?

Heh, well I'm stuck in the place that's only second to Glasgow in neds:others ratio.

Sorry but I can't agree. I took one look this morning and wandered what the hell had happened. The previous sequence was one of the best in ten years of C4 schools; despite being rarely played in full.

However, the fact the new look has been introduced mid-term suggests it may not be permanent. All Monday's programmes were aimed at a teen audience so I'm guessing it's a one-off. Mind you, it was back to the general mix overnight and they were still using it. Forget the mindless music - some imagery in the new sequence is hardly appropriate before "The Number Crew" or "Sarah and the Whammi" and on the whole, the sequence doesn't really say "schools programmes".

The countdown's absence is also regrettable; plenty of room on screen for a clock(!)


Schools programmes are public service TV; it's a travesty when they use them to chase ratings.

I never liked it to be honest, the music made me feel unwell, and no classrooms outside of Henley-on-Thames look like the ones on the sequences. Where's the dripping ceiling, the bullying in the corner and the teacher chatting to someone else outside for half an hour with a cup of coffee? The S4C schools dragon is much nicer all round anyway.

And Simon, you'd be the first to concede that schools don't sit down to pre-timed programmes any more, they barely did it in my day. If they're going to be recorded then they need to be promoted and shown off effectively so that the relevant people can hear about them and actually record them [essentially the same as 'ratings']. The clock is therefore obsolete, despite how pretty it might've been.

And it's not really the same as a news channel countdown because people *do* sit down at certain times for that, and watching at the top of the hour is important to catch headlines.

I haven't watched 4 Learning...Schools or whatever it's called these days for a while. Are they still using that fantastic music when they had the squares folding over at the end, and kids doing...school stuff? I loved that music...

But with the current trend for TV continuity, it's sometimes difficult to know what is a programme and what isn't! Even with programmes pre-recorded, the clock must still be a useful tool helping teachers find the correct point on the tape? Look at BBC2, they even have them in the programmes!

I fail to see how the new look "promotes and shows off effectively" the 4Learning output. Nothing was promoted between programmes (except Big Brother auditions - please!) and even the back-up announcements have been dropped. Hardly good marketing sense.


This is the sequence we're bemoaning the loss of. Music was great - best since the ITV days.

I've seen the new look 4Learning this morning, and found it to be rather eye-catching. The ideas used in this new look are excellent, and I feel they could use that sort of theme for the main Channel 4 idents.

Well done C4...