FAQ
Who is WordFlyers for?
WordFlyers is designed for Years 7–10 students who want to learn essential literacy skills, and for their classroom or support teachers.
What type of content is covered on the website?
The lessons cover vocabulary, spelling, reading comprehension, writing, grammar and punctuation.
How is WordFlyers different to other literacy sites?
WordFlyers is a resource that focuses on scaffolding student learning rather than testing the acquisition of isolated skills. All literacy skills are learned and practised within the context of a short text. Each text is between 250–300 words in length so that they can be easily read by students. The texts have been created by professional writers.
What sorts of texts are included in the units?
The texts are imaginative, informative and/or persuasive in purpose, reflecting the broad categories identified in the Australian Curriculum: English. Ten different text types are represented at each level in the WordFlyers website, to different degrees that reflect changing curriculum priorities and learner interests across Years 7–10. The ten text types are Narratives, Poetry, Descriptions, Recounts, Procedures, Reports, Explanations, Discussions, Expositions and Text Responses.
Is the website content related to the Australian Curriculum?
A great deal of time and care has been taken to make sure each unit and their lessons address the requirements of the national Australian Curriculum. View complete curriculum correlations in the Teacher management part of the website and at wordflyers.com.au/curriculum-correlations.
How is the website content organised?
There are 128 units of work organised over 16 levels. There are 4 levels of difficulty in each of the Years 7, 8, 9 and 10. These are called, for example, Review 7, 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3.
The units have been planned and organised this way so that students can work at a lesson level suitable for their literacy needs and are provided with opportunities to revise essential literacy skills. The Review levels for years 7, 8, 9 and 10 include content from previous year levels. For example, Review 7 includes content from years 2 ̶ 7 of the Australian Curriculum: English.
This table summarises the unit levels.
| Review 7 (8 texts) | Level 7.1 (8 texts) | Level 7.2 (8 texts) | Level 7.3 (8 texts) |
| Revision of Years 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 content, as indicated in Australian Curriculum: English, with a high level of teaching and learning support. | Revision of Year 5 and Year 6 content, as indicated in Australian Curriculum: English, with a high level of teaching and learning support. | Year 7 level content as indicated in Australian Curriculum: English and a high level of teaching and learning support. | Covers same content as Level 7.2 but assumes greater prior knowledge, requires deeper levels of independent thought and includes more challenging questions. |
| Age/stage appropriate texts/ topics (similar to those featured in 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3) written at a level suitable for low-literacy students. | Age/stage appropriate texts/topics (similar to those featured in 7.2 and 7.3). | Age/stage appropriate texts/topics (similar to those featured in 7.1 and 7.3) | Age/stage appropriate texts/topics (similar to those featured in 7.1 and 7.2) |
| Review 8 (8 texts) | Level 8.1 (8 texts) | Level 8.2 (8 texts) | Level 8.3 (8 texts) |
| Revision of Years 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 content, as indicated in Australian Curriculum: English, with a high level of teaching and learning support. | Revision of Year 7 content, as indicated in Australian Curriculum: English, with a high level of teaching and learning support. | Year 8 level content as indicated in Australian Curriculum: English and a high level of teaching and learning support. | Covers same content as Level 8.2 but assumes greater prior knowledge, requires deeper levels of independent thought and includes more challenging questions. |
| Age/stage appropriate texts/ topics (similar to those featured in 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3) written at a level suitable for low-literacy students. | Age/stage appropriate texts/topics (similar to those featured in 8.2 and 8.3) | Age/stage appropriate texts/topics (similar to those featured in 8.1 and 8.3) | Age/stage appropriate texts/topics (similar to those featured in 8.1 and 8.2) |
| Review 9 (8 texts) | Level 9.1 (8 texts) | Level 9.2 (8 texts) | Level 9.3 (8 texts) |
| Revision of Years 6, 7 and 8 content, as indicated in Australian Curriculum: English, with a high level of teaching and learning support. | Revision of Year 8 content, as indicated in Australian Curriculum: English, with a high level of teaching and learning support. | Year 9 level content as indicated in Australian Curriculum: English and a high level of teaching and learning support. | Covers same content as Level 9.2 but assumes greater prior knowledge, requires deeper levels of independent thought and includes more challenging questions. |
| Age/stage appropriate texts/ topics (similar to those featured in 9.1, 9.2 and 9.3) written at a level suitable for low-literacy students. | Age/stage appropriate texts/topics (similar to those featured in 9.2 and 9.3) | Age/stage appropriate texts/topics (similar to those featured in 9.1 and 9.3) | Age/stage appropriate texts/topics (similar to those featured in 9.1 and 9.2) |
| Review 10 (8 texts) | Level 10.1 (8 texts) | Level 10.2 (8 texts) | Level 10.3 (8 texts) |
| Revision of Years 6, 7 and 8 content, as indicated in Australian Curriculum: English, with a high level of teaching and learning support. | Revision of Year 9 content, as indicated in Australian Curriculum: English, with a high level of teaching and learning support. | Year 10 level content as indicated in Australian Curriculum: English and a high level of teaching and learning support. | Covers same content as Level 10.2 but assumes greater prior knowledge, requires deeper levels of independent thought and includes more challenging questions. |
| Age/stage appropriate texts/ topics (similar to those featured in 10.1, 10.2 and 10.3) written at a level suitable for low-literacy students. | Age/stage appropriate texts/topics (similar to those featured in 10.2 and 10.3) | Age/stage appropriate texts/topics (similar to those featured in 10.1 and 10.3) | Age/stage appropriate texts/topics (similar to those featured in 10.1 and 10.2) |
Can students work at a school Year level above or below them?
Yes, students can work at any level in the program. A Year 7 student could be working on Year 9 units of work, or vice versa.
Who developed WordFlyers?
The WordFlyers program has been created by the same company that brought you the ABC Reading Eggs and ABC Reading Eggspress websites, the Excel range of Pascal products and well-regarded Blake Education primary series such as Targeting English and Targeting Maths and the secondary teacher resource ranges called Achieve! and Instant Lessons. WordFlyers has been developed by a highly experienced team of teachers, educational writers, animators and web developers.
My child’s school is not using WordFlyers. Can I buy it for home use?
The WordFlyers program is currently not available for home school use. To register your interest please contact Customer Care team at wordflyers@3plearning.com or call 1300 850 331 between 8:30am–5:00pm AEST Mon–Fri.
How will I know that my students are making progress?
Monitor student progress in the Reports section of the Teacher Dashboard. You can see class or individual student’s progress in each content area and lesson.
How can students change their profile picture appearance?
Students can upload any image from their computer as their profile picture. Students can do this in their Profile page. The image can be updated at any time. Simply choose ‘Change photo’, choose a new image file and ‘Update’.
Do the activities have audio?
Yes, all the texts and tutorials are narrated. The audio reinforces what students are reading and increases students' engagement with the learning process and the text they are reading.
Do I need to sit with my students for every lesson?
Students can work on lesson activities independently and the website is an ideal resource to be set for homework, private study and revision. Lesson Tutorials, Hints and Word Definitions will help students answer the questions correctly.
Why do students love it?
We have worked hard to make this the best online literacy website for Australian secondary school students. WordFlyers has everything that teenagers love to do online and is built around the theme of international travel. The variety of activities, the games and the many rewards all work together to make learning essential literacy skills a fun and enjoyable experience.
Why are there online reward games, badges and souvenirs to collect?
Students earn WordFlyers points to 'buy' games and other travel related items to build collections and share with classmates. The rewards form part of the social, competitive and collaborative aspect of the site, features that research has shown will motivate students to participate and learn.
Is WordFlyers iPad compatible?
Yes, you can use WordFlyers on iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4 and iPad mini with a minimum Operating System of 6.0. For more information please click here.
Is WordFlyers Android compatible?
Yes, you can use WordFlyers on Android devices with Operating System 4.1 or later. For more information please click here.
How do I reset my password?
To reset your password, simply click the “Forgotten password?” link underneath the “Sign In” button on the teacher login page. If this does not work for you, please contact our friendly Customer Care team at wordflyers@3plearning.com or call 1300 850 331 between 8:30am–5:00pm AEST Mon–Fri.
How do I reset my student’s password?
To reset a student’s password, simply go to the class where your student is located. Find the student’s name and click on the pencil icon. Here you will be able to reset the password.
What if my students don't have email addresses?
Unfortunately, student logins are built around email addresses. This is because we are committed to protecting student privacy. If this is a problem for your school, please contact our friendly Customer Care team at wordflyers@3plearning.com or call 1300 850 331 between 8:30am–5:00pm AEST Mon–Fri.
What does the school need to supply?
All the school needs to supply are computers and the opportunity to use them at least two times per week. The program works best on a broadband connection.
Who do I call if I need technical help?
You can contact our friendly Customer Care team at wordflyers@3plearning.com or call 1300 850 331 between 8:30am–5:00pm AEST Mon–Fri.
Minimum Requirements
- A high speed Internet service
- Operating Systems:
- Windows 7+
- Mac OS X 10.6+
- (Please note your computer must have a working sound card)
- Screen Resolution: 1024×768
- Browsers:
- Windows: Internet Explorer 9, Google Chrome, Firefox 3.6
- Mac: Safari 4.0, Google Chrome, Firefox 3.6
- Flash Player: 10.56+ for older versions of Firefox
- Tablets:
- iPad: iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4 and iPad mini with a minimum Operating System of 6.0. Can be used on Safari or Google Chrome (recommended).
- Android: Supported on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, Galaxy Tab 3, Nexus 7 and 10 running OS 4.1, Jelly Bean or later. Must have Google Chrome 29.0 or later and Google Play Store to download Chrome browser.
- Not supported on Dell Venue 7, Kindle Fire, Pendo Pad, Thompson Tablet
Troubleshooting Tips
Most problems with WordFlyers can be fixed by following the troubleshooting steps below. Try these steps in order. If one doesn’t fix the problem, move onto the next one. If you need any help, please contact our friendly Customer Care team at wordflyers@3plearning.com or call 1300 850 331 between 8:30am–5:00pm AEST Mon–Fri.
Desktop Users
- Refresh your page.
- Ensure you have fixed line high speed broadband access.
- Ensure that you access WordFlyers via the internet address bar and not through 'shortcuts' or 'favourites'.
- Delete your browsing history (temporary internet files/cache/cookies) as your computer may be continually memorising the same error. If you are not sure how to do this please click here for appropriate instructions.
- Check firewalls / security settings / content filters as sometimes this blocks content, like sound, images.
- Upgrade your Internet Browser to Google Chrome.
- Modify proxy/content filter settings to accept larger files up to 5 MB in size.
- Ensure that following URLs are accessible through your network:
- *wordflyers.com.au
- wordflyers.com.au
- student.wordflyers.com.au
- teacher.wordflyers.com.au
- *.readingeggs.com
- *.readingeggsassets.com
- *.typekit.net
- *.tiles.mapbox.com
Tablet Users
- Refresh your page.
- Ensure you have high speed wi-fi Internet access.
- Make sure the sound is not muted on device
- Ensure that JavaScript is enabled on your device
- Delete the Browser history and cookies. For appropriate instructions, Safari users click here and Chrome users click here.
- Close and restart the Application/Browser. For appropriate instructions, iPad users click here and Android users click here.
- Reset your device.
- iPad: Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears
- Android: Press and hold the Power/Lock button and select 'Power Off' from the options to shutdown the device. Press and hold the Power/Lock button again to restart it