At the start of the academic year Hesmistress, Mrs Lindsey Hughes, expanded on her mantra of being 10% braver. Some very inspirational words that will, hopefully, fill you with even more motivation with which to start the new year!

As you all know, my mantra is that we should be 10% braver: that when we experience those moments of fear we don’t have to conquer it, just be 10% braver to push through it. Last year I took my theme for my first assembly from a card on my office wall which proclaims ‘Always wear your invisible cape’. The invisible cape is a secret weapon which enables us to face things when we’re not feeling particularly confident, and I asked the girls to imagine what their cape looks like. (Mine is a proper superhero cape - calf length, bright red and fluttering slightly in the breeze at all times).

This year, I took my theme from another card on my wall, which consists of two simple pictures:Your Plan, and Reality. The plan is simple. You know where you want to go and how to get there - easy. The reality, however, is often a little bit different: There was a knowing ripple of laughter round the Sports Hall as I put up this slide - we all recognise that things are never quite as simple as we might hope or anticipate. However our students need not fear this: they have the tools they need, of grit and resilience and perseverance, and a supportive community around them. Indeed, the Head Girls had just spoken, movingly and from personal experience, about the importance of talking to someone when necessary and how to access support at Channing.

I offered another possible tool for dealing with difficulty, also from my collection of cards on my office wall - 'Proceed as if success is inevitable: If we approach things half-heartedly or with the anticipation that either we, or the outcome, will be dreadful, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Far better, then, to act as if success is guaranteed to come some day in the not-too-distant future. It means approaching the task with the confidence that you will crack it - eventually - and knowing that with every bit of practice you’re improving your knowledge, your technique, your skill in that subject and as a learner.

The best bit about this is that it helps move you forward. With that momentum comes progress, and with progress comes accomplishment, and with accomplishment comes trust in yourself that you really can do it. Once you trust yourself you feel able to make even more progress and it becomes the most wonderful circle of success.

But - as my second picture showed - it is not always straightforward. I exhorted the school to ask for help and remember that progress is sometimes a long journey. They have the resilience and the capacity to regroup, seek support and make a new plan. So alongside being 10% braver, and wearing their invisible capes, this year I want them to proceed as if success is inevitable - because it probably is!