Firefly Education

18/08/2026

Last week we shared a great evening with the Mooloolaba Rotary Club, hearing more about the impact of their work both locally and internationally. We're always glad to support the work they're doing and it was fantastic to see how the books we contributed are reaching communities in need through RARE. Thank you for having us, and for the work you do connecting resources with the schools and communities who need them most 💫

Last Monday night (10th August 2026) our guest speaker was Anthony Stannard from Firefly Education, the major sponsor of our annual Telling Stories writing competition. Recently, Firefly had generously donated 15 pallets of educational books to Mooloolaba Rotary which have been delivered to RARE (Rotary Australia Repurposing Equipment) for distribution to neigbouring countries where resources are scarce. Anthony is a newly appointed director of the company, a company founded by his parents in 1989. In a former life, Anthony was an Australian diplomat, serving in many countries around the world.

Anthony explained that Firefly Education is a family-owned educational publisher based on the Sunshine Coast (Gubbi Gubbi Country), creating high-quality literacy and numeracy resources for Australian classrooms for over 30 years. Their educational programs are trusted by thousands of schools nationwide. Although club members were familiar with Firefly’s generosity, we were unaware of the full extent of the support they offer to schools for underprivileged students and in other areas, all part of the Firefly philosophy of “making a positive impact on the lives of others”. Thank you Anthony and the Firefly Education team for supporting Mooloolaba Rotary and for your programs that do make a positive difference in so many areas.

Rotary District 9620
Firefly Education

26/02/2026

Something exciting is on the way! Introducing the new and improved Sound Waves Word Study for Years 3 to 6.

Designed to reflect the needs of middle to upper primary students, Sound Waves Word Study builds on a systematic synthetic phonics foundation, making it the perfect next step from any structured early literacy program.

With greater emphasis on orthography (spelling patterns), morphology (word parts) and etymology (word origins) – Sound Waves Word Study goes beyond the surface, allowing students to learn about words, with depth and detail.

The new Sound Waves Word Study will be released later this year for use in classrooms in 2027.

DM us to to find out more 💌

05/06/2025

We’re thrilled to share that Firefly Education Directors – Ann Smales and Peter Stannard have been nominated for the 2025 Queensland Philanthropy Awards! 🎉

Their nomination, made by SunnyKids and announced during Queensland Philanthropy Week, recognises their pivotal role in launching the SunnyKids Transitional Housing Project—a life-changing initiative supporting families escaping domestic and family violence.

What started as a heartfelt conversation has grown into a project that will change lives—offering not just shelter, but hope, healing and a fresh start.
“We feel incredibly honoured to be nominated,” said Ann Smales. “This project has been a true labour of love for our team. While Firefly’s work in education has a broad impact nationally, this initiative has allowed us to do something deeply meaningful for our own community here on the Sunshine Coast.”

Thank you Ann and Peter for leading with compassion and action. Your community involvement sets a shining example of philanthropy in action 💛

Find out more about this incredible project and how you can get involved here: https://www.sunnykids.org.au/transitional-housing-project/
and

27/02/2025

We love hearing your feedback from the classroom! If you have stories to share about our Maths Trek program, DM us! 💫⁠
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��'Our teachers are absolutely loving the new Maths Trek program. They find the pages inviting and engaging for the students, the sequence of lessons are effective and they also find the resources and explanation of activities is well thought out.' – Ms. Benfer, Assistant Principal (QLD)

20/02/2025

Are you interested in free handwriting resources? Of course you are!⁠
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Head to www.writingtimeonline.com.au to access a range of free interactive, projectable and printable resources to use in your handwriting lessons.

18/02/2025

Ready to strengthen your students’ mental computation skills? Sign up for a free trial to discover how Think Mentals’ clever strategies break down maths problems into friendly, manageable chunks.�

– Learn about Think Mentals' friendly approach to mental computation
– Understand how mental computation strategies are explicitly taught throughout the program
– Explore the extremely useful features of Think Mentals Digital and learn how to use them effectively across the week.

Sign up today! ➡️ https://www.fireflyeducation.com.au/support/workshops/improving-mental-computation-outcomes-with-think-mentals'-explicit-teaching-strategies-4307

16/02/2025

The message is clear – for schools aiming to improve their students’ literacy outcomes, using decodable readers as part of their systematic synthetic phonics instruction is vital.⁠
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This free virtual session is designed to provide educators with a comprehensive look at how students can build their word recognition and fluency by applying their phoneme–grapheme knowledge to Decodable Readers. ⁠
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Spaces are limited, sign-up today! ➡️ https://www.fireflyeducation.com.au/support/workshops/targeted-and-effective-early-years-reading-instruction-4297

11/02/2025

Looking to improve your school’s maths outcomes with a whole-school, curriculum-aligned numeracy program? Discover how Maths Trek can transform numeracy outcomes with this practical workshop.

You’ll explore Maths Trek’s structured framework and intuitive resources designed to support explicit teaching and streamline your lessons. Using the Gradual Release of Responsibility model, Maths Trek supports student mastery of core maths skills, while the real-world contexts of Maths Trek investigations foster deeper understanding, fluency, reasoning and problem-solving skills.

This workshop will provide valuable insights and recommendations on how your school can advance its maths outcomes with Maths Trek. Register today!
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➡️ https://www.fireflyeducation.com.au/support/workshops/delivering-impactful-numeracy-lessons-with-maths-trek-4295

09/02/2025

Are you using Think Mentals Workbooks this year? Don't forget to sign up for Think Mentals Answers!⁠
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For each year level you will find:⁠
✔️a handy downloadable PDF containing all the answers
✔️projectable answer overlays of the Student Book pages ⁠
✔️projectable strategies.⁠
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Best of all, Think Mentals Answers is free! ⭐⁠
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Sign up now – www.thinkmentalsanswers.com.au

28/01/2025

Book in your FREE PL for Term 1 💫⁠
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Has your school recently purchased any Sound Waves Literacy resources? Need advice on how to incorporate these into your literacy lessons? Do new staff need to be brought up to speed with Sound Waves so they are ready for the year ahead?

Request a free in-school PL with your local education consultant today! Our consultants have a wealth of teaching experience to help your school make the most of your Sound Waves resources.�
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Sign up today ➡️ https://fireflyeducation.com.au/support/workshops/