Play School

Play School is a long-running educational television program for pre-school[?] aged children. It is produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) for Australian and international distribution, and it is notable because it is the longest-running program on Australian television, and second only to the American educational program Sesame Street in terms of influence on Australian children. Play School was based on the BBC program of the same name, and the first episodes aired in 1966. Two episodes screen every day, at 9am and 3pm.

From the inception of the program, the producers of Play School have made efforts to promote equality, playful education, and a love of learning in its audience. Working on Play School has come to be considered an unusually demanding and important job for some talented actors, because they feel they are becoming part of a generation of children's lives and providing a foundation for learning that will last for life. Long-running Playschool presenters have included Noni Hazlehurst, Benita Collings, Alister Smart and John Hamblin.

Playschool's stated philosophy is to encourage a child 'to wonder, to think, to feel and to imagine'. The two presenters (always a male/female pairing) address the child directly and personally, so that every child watching the show feels that they are spending time with two people they know and can trust. Into this relationship are woven the stories, songs and activities that form the fabric of Australian children's culture.

Play School is successful because it satisfies our basic human need to interact with other people and to be valued by them.