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Issue #10

Dated: 12 June 2026

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Dear Students, Parents and Carers,

One of the questions occupying educational researchers around the world at present is deceptively simple: "What should young people be learning in a world where information is available instantly?" For generations, success at school was often associated with what students knew and could remember. While educational thinking has evolved considerably over time, one thing has remained constant: knowledge matters.

This is because knowledge is not separate from thinking; it is what makes thinking possible. Students cannot analyse information they do not understand. They cannot evaluate evidence if they lack the background knowledge needed to judge its quality. They cannot solve problems, recognise patterns, make connections or exercise judgement without something upon which to draw. Knowledge provides the foundation from which understanding, reasoning and decision-making emerge. What has changed is not the importance of knowledge, but the demands being placed upon it.

I learned this lesson many years ago while studying Optometry at university. Like many students who experience early academic success, I entered my second year feeling reasonably confident. My first year had gone well. I attended lectures, took notes, completed the required readings and generally achieved the results I was aiming for. Looking back, I suspect I had come to believe that learning was largely a matter of effort: attend class, study the material, remember what you had been taught and the results would take care of themselves.

Then came Pathology. I still remember sitting in a lecture theatre packed with hundreds of students as our lecturer launched into concepts that seemed almost entirely foreign to us. Week after week I attended every lecture, filled pages of notebooks with notes and studied harder than I ever had before. Yet when the first assessment arrived, the result left me stunned. It simply did not reflect the effort I had invested.

At the time, I could not understand it. How could someone work so hard and still feel as though they had completely missed the point? As luck would have it, my father, who was a physician, happened to be visiting at the time. When I explained what had happened, he listened patiently before asking a deceptively simple question: “What are the next topics?”

Over the following days, he sat with me and taught me in a way that was entirely different from anything I had experienced before. He did not hand me textbooks or ask me to memorise additional content. Instead, he told stories. Stories about patients whose symptoms pointed towards one diagnosis while the real explanation lay elsewhere. Stories about treatments that failed because someone had overlooked a seemingly insignificant detail. Stories about doctors who became attached to an explanation before they had fully considered the evidence.

What struck me the most was that he rarely focused on the answer itself. Instead, he kept asking questions. What evidence supports that conclusion? What else could explain those symptoms? What assumptions are you making? Without realising it, he was teaching me something far more important than pathology. He was teaching me how to think with knowledge. Looking back, I realise that the issue had never been a lack of effort, nor even a lack of knowledge. The issue was that I had not yet learned how to apply that knowledge, evaluate evidence, challenge assumptions and reason my way through unfamiliar situations. Perhaps this is why contemporary assessment research has become increasingly interested in what students can do with what they know.

Increasingly, schools are being asked to prepare young people for a world characterised by complexity, uncertainty and rapid technological change. Contemporary research suggests that success depends not only on what students know, but on how effectively they can use that knowledge. Can they evaluate information? Can they identify credible evidence? Can they apply their learning to unfamiliar situations? Can they solve problems, adapt and make informed decisions when faced with competing perspectives or incomplete information?

These questions have become even more relevant in an age where technology and artificial intelligence can generate information in seconds. The challenge for schools is no longer simply helping students access knowledge; it is helping them understand, evaluate and use that knowledge effectively.

At Gungahlin College, these ideas have been central to our assessment redesign work over recent years. Under the guidance of assessment expert Dr Kathryn Richardson, staff have been working to strengthen assessment practices across the College, ensuring that assessment tasks align closely with what students have been taught while also providing meaningful opportunities for students to demonstrate understanding. In practice, this means designing assessments that provide evidence not only of what students know, but also of how they apply concepts, analyse information, evaluate evidence, communicate reasoning and transfer learning to unfamiliar contexts.

It was particularly pleasing to see this work recognised during the School Review conducted from 2-4 June. Throughout the review, the team met extensively with students, staff and members of our community to gain a deeper understanding of the learning experiences taking place across the College. The review team acknowledged the deliberate and thoughtful work occurring in the areas of teaching, learning and assessment and recognised the significant progress that has been made in strengthening these practices.

The review also provided valuable insights that will help inform the development of the College's next five-year Strategic Plan. As we begin this work, our focus will be on building upon the strong foundations already established. This includes continuing to strengthen teaching and learning practices, refining how we use evidence of learning to support student growth and ensuring that every student develops both the knowledge and capabilities required to thrive in an increasingly complex world.

The timing of these conversations is particularly relevant as students move into Test Week and the important assessment period that follows. While assessments provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning, they also provide valuable feedback that helps students, teachers and families understand progress and identify next steps. Feedback Day, in particular, provides an important opportunity for students to engage directly with their teachers, reflect upon their learning and consider how they can continue to grow.

Ultimately, this is what education has always sought to achieve. Not simply the accumulation of knowledge, but the development of understanding, judgement and the confidence to apply learning in the world beyond school. As our students move through this assessment period, we hope they view each assessment not merely as a measure of performance, but as an opportunity to learn, grow and continue developing the capabilities that will serve them long after they leave the College.

As students move into Test Week, I encourage you to prepare well, seek support when required and engage thoughtfully with the feedback you receive. For families, I encourage you to continue engaging in conversations with your children about their learning and experiences. Some of the most powerful learning occurs through these everyday interactions, where young people are challenged to explain their thinking, justify their reasoning and consider alternative perspectives.

As always, I would like to sincerely thank our parents and carers for the guidance, encouragement and support they provide to our students throughout the year. The partnership between home and school remains one of the most important influences on student success, and we greatly value the role our families play in helping young people develop not only knowledge, but the confidence and judgement to use it well.

I wish all students every success in the weeks ahead and look forward to seeing them on feedback day.

Kind regards,

Maha Yasin
Acting Principal

WEEK 19 - TEST WEEK

Week 19

Test Week will operate on a different timetable with exams running from Monday 15 to Friday 19 June. Please refer to the Test Week Timetable for details.

Week 20

Wednesday 24 June is Feedback Day which will run from 10:30am-12:30pm. All students are expected to attend (see page 3 of the Test Week Timetable).

Students are not required to be onsite from Monday 22 June to Friday 26 June, with the exception of:

Week 21

No classes.

FEEDBACK DAY TIMETABLE

All students are expected to attend Feedback day on Wednesday 24 June.

Please see the alternate timetable below:

Line 1 10:30 am

Line 2 10:45 am

Line 3 11:00 am

Line 4 11:15 am

Line 5 11:30 am

Line 6 11:45 am

Line 7 12:00 pm

Line 8 12:15 pm

THE ACT SCALING TEST (AST) TRIAL

On Thursday 25 and Friday 26 June, Year 12 students studying a tertiary package will sit their final AST Trial.  It is through the AST that scaling occurs across colleges/senior secondary schools in the ACT, and therefore this trial is an important test in which students should perform to the best of their ability so as to be prepared for their actual AST in September.

Please note that attendance is required. If you are unwell on either of these days, you must contact the college GNGC.AST@ed.act.edu.au and GNGCabsences@ed.act.edu.au

Year 12 Tertiary students will need to check their Student email and AST Google Classroom for further information.

Thursday 25 June

Friday 26 June

8:30am – 3:30pm

8:30am– 12:30pm

WELLBEING SUPPORT RESOURCES

In these times of increasing uncertainty, mental health challenges will affect most young people.  Please see the list of external Vital Support Contacts that students and parents can access whenever they feel overwhelmed or need support.

CAREERS

Please see the Careers Update.

CALENDAR

WEEK 19

Monday 15 June

Tuesday 16 June

Wednesday 17 June

Thursday 18 June

Friday 19 June

WEEK 20

Wednesday 24 June

Thursday 25 June

Friday 26 June

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