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APPLY NOWWord from the Head – 12 June 2026
Dear Parents,
A few weeks ago I made a mistake. You know the sort, I’m sure – the one where your brain seems to be moving a fraction of a second slower than your fingers. One Monday morning, I sent out a letter to many of you. Unfortunately it contained two errors, one regarding a colleague’s title and the other related to their professional background. In the grand scheme of things I know this isn’t the end of the world, but as an educator and leader, I pride myself on getting the details right. It was a stark reminder of what happens when we rush.
Then I made it worse. In my haste to acknowledge the mistake, I drafted an email to my team to coordinate an apology. Instead of sending it to a few key people, I accidentally hit Reply All. Suddenly every single member of the Senior School staff, teaching and non-teaching, had full view of my blunder. As I told the colleague in question the next morning: “I don’t think I could have got it more wrong if I’d tried.”
This isn’t my first time making a very public mistake. Years ago, as an Assistant Head, I received a frantic call from the school office: “Nobody has turned up to lead assembly!” I remember grumbling, “Which idiot forgot to check the rota?” only to look at the schedule, which I myself had written, and realise that – yes, you’ve guessed it – I was the idiot. I had to perform the ultimate walk of shame into a silent hall where half the Senior School, and the Headmistress, were waiting for my pearls of wisdom. I walked onto the stage, looked up at 400 pairs of eyes, and said:
“Everybody makes mistakes. It’s what you do about them that matters.”
Recently, I met with a family who was concerned that a teacher had made a mistake during a lesson. I understand that concern; we want our children to be led by experts. The truth is that our teachers are experts. They are highly skilled subject specialists who know their material inside and out. But they are also human. Sometimes an error creeps onto a worksheet or a whiteboard. Sometimes a leader hits Reply All. If we expect our teachers to be infallible, we are modelling a standard that is not only impossible but actually harmful to our children’s development. We constantly tell our girls that making mistakes is a vital part of learning. If they are afraid to get a question wrong in practice, they will be too paralysed to take the risks necessary to succeed in the real thing, and likewise, adults make mistakes too.
You may remember that when you first came to look around Channing I told you that we want our girls to get to know themselves, and like what they find. It’s central to my educational philosophy and something I hope we are achieving every day here in school. In my view, it takes two things:
Firstly, they need to understand and celebrate their strengths: not brush off compliments but rather acknowledge the fruits of their efforts, which deserve praise. When something goes well it’s not a fluke, it’s not luck, rather they are good at something and they worked hard at it. Our girls must learn to blow their own trumpets.
Secondly – and to my point about making mistakes – they must forgive themselves for their mistakes and learn self-compassion. Our girls are brilliant at supporting and encouraging their friends when things go wrong, but they need to do the same for themselves. Girls, young women and even adult women speak to and about themselves in a way that they would never dream of doing about others. I want them to own their mistakes, lean into their weaknesses and learn how to mitigate them, to become 10% braver and fearless in their approach.
Next week will give them plenty of opportunities to do just that. Everyone will throw themselves into Sports Day on Monday (please see the section below for more details of the programme and what the girls need to bring on the day), and then it’s four days of adventure. Year 8 head off on their language trips to France, Germany and Spain, while Year 9 will tackle their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award expeditions. Years 7, 10 and 12 have a whole range of day trips and activities both in and out of school. My thanks to Mrs Bhamra-Burgess, Assistant Head Co-curricular, for masterminding it all, and to every member of staff who is organising, leading or accompanying a visit – it is a huge undertaking and I am enormously grateful for your time and commitment. I wish you all a most enjoyable and successful week.
With warmest wishes for the weekend (and warm indeed, as the sun finally comes back out after this miserable week!),
With warmest wishes
Lindsey Hughes
Headmistress
