The ITV Schools Archive

A place to (gradually!) add and preserve content around the history of ITV Schools in one easy to search place. All content is uploaded by the credited person, and all content is the copyright of its respective owner (usually ITV plc), and used for...

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Two semi-complete junctions from Friday 25th September 1981 here. Along with an ATV ident for good measure.

Music:  Buttercup (over the clocks) and Lavender 2 by Martin Kershaw.

Video from: CaptainSiCo / Simon Luxton

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A clock and brief snippet of a slide from March 1982. Then into the titles of Thames 1980 series about Italy, called Finding Out.

Clock Music: Chateaux by Francis Fumiere

Video from: Sdaonline

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Here’s a junction from S4C, heading into Scientific Eye. It features a funny announcement about getting a licence to record TV programmes (which you may forget was technically illegal even though everybody did it). Plus there’s an announcement aboout getting hold of some old big floppy disks for the BBC computers, which I’m pretty sure were being replaced by Archimedes and Acorn machines well before 1992.

Music: The Journey and Just a Minute by James Aldenham

Video from: TV Schools

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A nice long junction here from Tuesday 13th March 1979. Coming out what may be ‘Watch Your Language’ into Looking at Television from Yorkshire, which includes a nice custom ident.

Music: 1. Frivolity by Andrew Jackman. 2. Chateaux by Francis Fumiere.

Video from: CaptainSiCo / Simon Luxton

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Welsh language schools programmes from both ITV and BBC were broadcast on S4C, the Welsh equivalent of Channel 4. This 1989 junction shows their (definitely cheaper looking) version of the 1987 Channel 4 rotoscope.

It uses the same music, and we get to hear a lot of The Journey here, before the humalong of Just a Minute, leading into FFENESTRI - which apparently means ‘Windows’ - as backed up by the opening animation.

Music: 1. The Journey - James Aldenham, 2. Just a Minute - James Aldenham

Video From: Schoolworks

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Here’s something a bit different. Granada’s intro and outro to the schools programmes of the day (Mon 10th Feb 1986), using their own branded slides and music from the regular schools playlist. The second song is called Pausing. Not sure about first one yet!

Music: 1. TBC 2. Pausing by James Aldenham

Video from: Schoolworks

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A sadly timely add after hearing the news of the death of Victoria Wood. A wonderfully witty and talented performer, who co-hosted the Yorkshire show Insight, featured in this clip.

Clock Music: The Fledgling by James Clark

Video from: Schoolworks

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A junction coming out of a Granada programme and into Animal Action from Anglia, with an announcement from Gary Terzza.

The second slide song is Waiting for Summer by James Aldenham. Others to be added once I’ve confirmed.

Video from: Schoolworks

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Another early slide, with only a little of the clock I’m afraid.

Will update once I have the song names - if you know please let me know!

Video from: Jason D’Arcy

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An excellent upload featuring a number of the junctions from the very first day that ITV Schools appeared on Channel 4.

I always like to think that the main melody of Just a Minute is actually the words “Just a min-ute”... anyone? No? Rats!

Music: The Journey, Just a Minute - James Aldenham (aka Brian Bennett)

Video by: Schoolworks

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A junction from Summer 1978, featuring the clock and the start of Finding Out.

Music: Study in A Major, Chateaux

Video from: RAX118G

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Possibly the earliest footage of a live interval and clock. Missing some songs, but given that it dates from Spring Term 1974 - it’s still impressive.

Music: Beadle-um-Bo, Les Trois Chats, Avez-Vous Le Tempo, Middle Of The Day - By Regency Orchestra

Video from: CaptainSiCo and the late Simon Luxton, whose site TV Ark got me interested in TV history

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Excellent documentary style promo. Shown in May 1987, it showed the origins of the ITV Schools system, and promoted the service ahead of its switch to Channel 4 later in the year.

Opening Music: Just a Minute

Video from: TV Bits

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Another rare one. Also from 1992, an alternative song that was seemingly only used in that year.

Music: Moonlight Beach by  John Collins & Mark Harrison

Video from: Balraj Jittla

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A rare one to start with, featuring a song that was only used (as far as I can find out) in 1992 for the first junction of the day.

Music: Brian Alberici, Andrew May And Chris Winter

Video from: Balraj Jittla