All student passcodes must have 6 digits.
To help you to deliver the Challenge remotely, you can now send usernames and passcodes to students in bulk via email.
To generate and email usernames and passcodes:
- Go to the Users menu, then the Students menu.
- Filter on year level, class name or coordinator name.
From the search results, you can generate username and passcode details either:
- For a group – selecting the relevant students from the search results. Select Print username and passcode (CSV/email) under the Group Actions menu.
- For individuals – selecting the student from the search results. Select Print username and passcode (CSV/email) from the Action ellipses (⋮) next to their entry in the search results table.
The application will email the login details to the coordinator who performed the action.
To complete the password mail out:
1. Open the spreadsheet (containing the new username/s and passcode/s) that was emailed to you. Coordinators will need to format the cells to convert the numbers to text and add a 0 so all passcodes are 6 digits.
highlight column with passcodes
right mouse click on 'Format cells'
click on 'Text' press okay
add 0 at the start of any 4 digit or 5 digit passcodes, so there are 6 digits
- Add the parent/student email addresses you want to send to in Column E of the spreadsheet. Save to a location you will remember
2. Start a mail merge
- Open the
Student/parent letter Word template (docx - 131.91kb) and update it with your school details. Save the document to use again for another class. This document contains mail merge fields that will use the data from your student login spreadsheet. To open it select 'Yes' in response to both warning messages. -
Go to the Mailings ribbon section
- Click Select Recipients -> Use an Existing List
3. Select mail merge data source
- Navigate to and select the saved attachment (from step 1)
- Click Open
- Ensure the first row of data contains column headers is checked
- Click OK
4. In the Word document, create the email text to send to the students
5. To add data such as the username and password from the selected file,
- Put the mouse where the field is to go
- Click on Insert Merge Field in the ribbon menu
- Select the data to insert (e.g. username)
6. This will create a placeholder that will insert the correct value when the mail merge is done. An example Parent/student email would look like the following, where words between << and >> indicate a mail merge placeholder
Dear «Name»
Here are your login details for the 2021 Premiers' Reading Challenge.
Username: «Username»
Passcode: «Password»
Further information about how to use the new Challenge application is available at: School students and parents.
To log in go to: Register and log in
Kind regards,
XXXX
7. To see an example of what a finished email will look like click the Preview Results button in the ribbon menu
8. When happy with the email, to send
-
Click ribbon menu button Finish & Merge -> Send Email Message
- In the To drop down list select Email Address
- Enter the subject for the emails in the Subject line
- Ensure the All option is selected
- Click OK
For security reasons, usernames and passcodes are automatically generated by the Challenge system to meet security requirements and are not viewable online.
If any student passcodes do not work after generating to the csv file please email readingchallenge@education.vic.gov.au.