''Fun School'' is a series of educational packages developed and published in the United Kingdom by

Europress Software Europress was a British magazine and software publisher based in Adlington, Cheshire, Adlington, near Macclesfield, Cheshire. Their magazine publishing business was previously known as Database Publications. The software division was renamed in 19 ...

, initially as ''Database Educational Software''. The original ''Fun School'' titles were sold mostly by mail order via off-the-page adverts in the magazines owned by Database Publications. A decision was made to create a new set of programs, call the range ''Fun School 2'', and package them more professionally so they could be sold in computer stores around the UK. Every game comes as a set of three versions, each version set to cater for a specific age range.

Fun School 1

''Fun School 1'' is the first set of educational games, created in 1984 by Database Educational Software for the

Acorn Electron The Acorn Electron (nicknamed the Elk inside Acorn and beyond) was introduced as a lower-cost alternative to the BBC Micro educational/home computer, also developed by Acorn Computers, to provide many of the features of that more expensive mach ...

and

BBC Micro The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a family of microcomputers developed and manufactured by Acorn Computers in the early 1980s as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project. Launched in December 1981, it was showcased across severa ...

computers. The three individual games catered for children aged under 6 years, between 6 and 8 years and over 8 years respectively. They also include five children's

nursery rhymes A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and other European countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. Fro ...

. The products were tested in classrooms and were educationally approved.

Fun School 2

''Fun School 2'' is the second set of educational games, created in 1989 by Database Educational Software. It was released on more computers than its predecessor including

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for "Colour Personal Computer") is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spec ...

Atari ST Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...

and

RISC OS RISC OS () is an operating system designed to run on ARM architecture, ARM computers. Originally designed in 1987 by Acorn Computers of England, it was made for use in its new line of ARM-based Acorn Archimedes, Archimedes personal computers an ...

. The three individual games catered for children aged under 6 years, between 6 and 8 years and over 8 years respectively. The ''Fun School 2'' games were programmed using the STOS (derived from

BASIC Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film ...

) programming language with the STOS Compiler Engine. ''Fun School 2'' was reviewed as "The number one choice for our school" by Shelley Gibson. ''Fun School 2'' was rated 3rd place in the "Gallup full-price software chart". ''

Commodore Force {{Infobox magazine, , based = Ludlow, Shropshire , editor = Steve Shields James Price , image_file = File:Commodore_Force_Issue_12_November_1993_Issue_Cover.jpg , image_caption = November 1993 cover , frequency = M ...

'' rated ''Fun School 2'' for Under 6 Years as #43, ''Fun School 2'' Ages 6–8 as #36 and ''Fun School 2'' Over 8 Years as number 10 in rankings of the top 100

games of 1993. Despite its popularity among children, ''Fun School 2'' was criticized by left-wing educationalists due to a competition element and the matter was brought to British MP Kenneth Baker.

Fun School 3

''Fun School 3'' is the third set of educational games, created in 1990 by Database Educational Software released for the

Amstrad PCW The Amstrad PCW series is a range of personal computers produced by United Kingdom, British company Amstrad from 1985 to 1998, and also sold under licence in Europe as the "Joyce" by the German electronics company Schneider Computer Division, Schn ...

Amiga CD32 The Amiga CD32 (stylized as Amiga CD32) is a home video game console developed by Commodore as part of the Amiga line, as well as the final hardware to be developed by the company. Released in September 1993 in Europe, Australia, Canada, and B ...

and

computers. The three individual games catered for children aged under 5 years, between 5 and 7 years and over 7 years respectively. The games and their age ranges took in to full account of the new

National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with state or othe ...

and the school syllabus content at the time. The ''Fun School 3'' games were developed using the STOS (derived from

) programming language with the STOS Compiler Engine. For the

version it was converted to

AMOS Amos or AMOS may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray * Amos (band), an American Christian rock band * ''Amos'' (film), a 1985 American made-for-television drama film * Amos (guitar), a 1958 Gibson Fl ...

using the AMOS Compiler by William Cochrane and Peter Hickman. The Amiga version was hosted on the "Commodore 1990 Christmas" talk show along with AMOS 3D. The Amstrad PCW version won the European Computer Leisure Award as "Best Home Education Package" and also got the

8000 Plus ''8000 Plus'' (renamed ''PCW Plus'' early in 1992) was a monthly British magazine dedicated to the Amstrad PCW range of microcomputers. It was one of the earliest magazines from Future plc, and ran for just over ten years, the first issue being ...

Seal of Approval.

Fun School 4

''Fun School 4'' is the fourth set of educational games, released in 1991 by

(formerly called Database Educational Software) and released on the

and

computers. The three individual games catered for children aged under 5 years, between 5 and 7 years and between 7 and 11 years respectively. The content of the games matched the educational material taught in schools of

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and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in accordance with the

. During the planning stages, an education competition was held by ST Format, in which the best entries were incorporated in the game. The Amiga version of the ''Fun School 4'' games were mostly created with the

code using the AMOS Compiler engine. ''TimeTable'' and ''Exchange Rates'' were written in asembler, this was primarily due to the complex nature of these two games and wanting to keep the performance up to an acceptable level.

Fun School Specials

''Fun School Specials'' is a set of educational games, created in 1993 by

, consisting of four different games. Upon demand, Europress designed each game specifically with a certain major topic to add depth to spelling, maths, creativity and science, respectively and comply fully with the

Paint and Create

''Paint and Create'' was released on

and

computers and has an easy interface divided into six activities aimed at younger audiences to do their own artwork. ''Paint and Create'' got good review scores including 91% from ''

Commodore Format ''Commodore Format'' was a British magazine for users of the Commodore 64 home computer. It was published on the third Thursday of every month. All 61 issues were produced by Future plc. These came towards the end of the machine's commercial li ...

'' and 94% from the

CU Amiga ''Commodore User'', (also referred to as ''CU'') later renamed to ''CU Amiga'', is a British magazine initially published by Paradox Group before being acquired by EMAP. Timeline ''Commodore User'' was launched in October 1983 with an initial pr ...

magazine. It also got awarded the Screenstar from Amiga Reviews.

Spelling Fair

''Spelling Fair'' was released on

and

computers.

Merlin's Maths

''Merlin's Maths'' was released on

and

computers. Merlin's Maths teaches mathematics on the topics of counting, decimals, fractions and volumes within six activities.

Young Scientist

''Young Scientist'' was created in 1995 and released on CD for Windows and Macintosh to teach science in depth. The game stars the main character Ozzie S. Otter and has up to forty scientific experiments to try out.

Fun School 5

''Fun School 5'' is the fifth set of educational games, released in 1995 by Europress Software on

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. The games were originally planned to be released in 1993 with the age ranges 'Under 5s', '5s to 7s' and '7s to 11s', but there was a delay due to the development of the subject-specific ''Fun School Specials''. The games were written using DOS 4GW and early versions had problems with some video drivers, forcing Europress to recall an entire stock before revising new versions. The three individual games catered for children aged between 4 and 7 years, between 6 and 9 years and between 8 and 11 years respectively and had their own specific themes with a goal to complete the game. The games introduced two children, Suki and Rik, and their pet purple dinosaur, Gloopy. The player has to assist Gloopy and the children in solving a number of challenges.

Fun School 6

''Fun School 6'' is the sixth set of educational games, created in 1996 by Europress Software released on

. The three individual games catered for children aged between 4 and 7 years, between 6 and 9 years and between 8 and 11 years respectively and had their own specific themes but each of the five topics remained in the same category with certain variations related to the age level. The games star Gloopy from ''Fun School 5'', this time a pink dinosaur.

Fun School 7

''Fun School 7'' is the seventh and final set of educational games, created in 1998 by CBL Technology and released on

. The three individual games catered for children aged between 4 and 7 years, between 6 and 9 years and between 8 and 11 years respectively. The game makes use of 3D graphics.

Commercial performance

Before 1989, the educational market was dwindling and the release of ''Fun School 2'' was an outstanding success. The games sold over 60,000 copies by February and by this time a

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package was developed. By April the games sold over 100,000 copies. During August in 1990, over 150,000 copies had been sold (including 30,000

copies). During the development of ''Fun School 3'' by December, 250,000 copies of the games had been sold. Before the BBC Micro and PC versions were released ''Fun School 3'' had already sold 45,000 copies of other formats. By the time ''Fun School 4'' was in development,

Europress Europress was a British magazine and software publisher based in Adlington, near Macclesfield, Cheshire. Their magazine publishing business was previously known as Database Publications. The software division was renamed in 1999 to Actualize. Hi ...

had sold 300,000 copies of its ''Fun School'' products and 400,000 copies by April. By 1992, over 500,000 copies of the Fun School Range products were sold. By 1993, over 650,000 Fun School packages had been sold. When ''Fun School 5'' was released, over 800,000 ''Fun School'' packages were sold and becoming an international bestseller. During the release of ''Fun School 6'', around 1,500,000 copies of the Fun School Range were sold. When ''Fun School 7'' was released, 2 million copies of the Fun School Range were sold.

References

External links

*
History of ''Fun School'', ''Fun School 2'' and ''Fun School 3''
* * {{moby game, id=-group/fun-school-series, name=''Fun School'' series Children's educational video games United Kingdom-exclusive video games Video game franchises Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video game franchises introduced in 1986 Acorn Archimedes games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Amstrad PCW games Atari ST games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games Amiga CD32 games Commodore 64 games DOS games Windows games ZX Spectrum games