We’re sampling some very different schools – and schoolkids – on our home page this week as students and staff across the nation head back to school for another year.

The most iconic school on Australian screens in recent years would have to be Summer Heights High (2007). Star pupil Ja’mie King is also one of the characters in Chris Lilley's We Can Be Heroes (2005) – coming to ASO in 2010.

Starting a new school this year? The twin sisters in Double Trouble (2007), the first Indigenous children’s TV series, don’t just swap schools, they switch identities. And when the title character in Hey Hey It’s Esther Blueburger (2007) is sick of her exclusive private girls’ school, she starts attending the local public school in secret instead.

Puberty Blues (1981) exploded onto cinema screens nearly 20 years ago with a contemporary spin on school life after more sedate period films like Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), The Devil’s Playground (1976) and The Getting of Wisdom (1978). There are fascinating glimpses of a real South Australian school in the 1920s in The Rising Generation and an insight into postwar school banking in Commonwealth Bank – The School Bank (1951).

We’ve recently added an interview with Patricia Edgar, founder of The Australian Children’s Television Foundation. Mortified – Taylor’s DNA (2006) is the most viewed ACTF title on the site. Also, keep an eye out for the work of our new children’s television curator, Tammy Burnstock. In 2010, we’ll be adding some iconic children’s titles, ranging from Play School, Mr Squiggle and Skippy to Lockie Leonard and The Saddle Club.