Principal Ian Pugh shares how the school is building on its Outstanding foundations
PARTNER CONTENT: For Muna British Academy, the start of a new academic year represents much more than a return to the classroom.
With a new Principal, a new campus on Saadiyat Island and the opening of Year 9, the school is entering one of the most significant periods of growth in its history.
For incoming Principal Ian Pugh, however, progress is not about leaving the past behind. It is about taking what has made Muna successful and building upon it.
Pugh knows the school particularly well. He was a teacher during Muna’s opening year in 2009 and, more recently, has spent two years on its Board of Governors.
When the opportunity arose to return as Principal, he says the decision came easily.
“There has always been something special about Muna,” he explains.
“You can feel the warmth, the strong sense of belonging and the connection our staff have with the children.”
“This is a community that is well established and genuinely cares.”
Building on Outstanding
hat strong sense of identity sits alongside an established record of academic success, including Muna’s consistent Outstanding ADEK ratings.
For Pugh, this provides a strong foundation for the school’s next chapter – particularly as it develops its secondary provision.
“An Outstanding legacy is something to build on; it’s not just something to protect,” he says. “Our focus is to create a secondary school that is equally as special and ambitious as the primary school.”
Central to that ambition is the opening of Year 9. Muna’s phased progression towards full K–12 provision will offer families greater continuity across their child’s educational journey, supporting a consistent experience, deeper sense of belonging and stronger connection to the school community.
The expansion into secondary is a particularly exciting prospect for Pugh.
“We have the opportunity to shape a secondary school around the needs and interests of our students, while keeping a clear eye on the future,” he says.
Crucially, he believes it also gives younger pupils a sense of continuity, strengthening the school family even further.
Preparing for a changing world
As Muna’s older pupils move towards GCSE study and, ultimately, life beyond school, Pugh wants its developing secondary provision to be purposeful and forward-looking.
AI and innovation will form part of that thinking, but his vision extends beyond simply using new technology.
He wants students to understand how things work, to build, problem solve and develop practical capabilities alongside academic knowledge.
At the same time, the human skills young people will need in an increasingly automated world remain just as important.
Spend even a short time talking to Ian Pugh and it is clear that human connection sits at the heart of his educational philosophy.
Relaxed and approachable, he speaks with true conviction about the role schools play in shaping young people.
He wants Muna students to communicate confidently, form strong relationships, ask good questions and, importantly, connect meaningfully with others.
His aspirations for Muna pupils are clear: “I want these children to make exceptional progress with an array of options for their future. But outcomes are only one part of the picture.”
“I want them to feel proud of who they have become as a person, secure in themselves so that they are ready for the world.”
“Importantly though, I want them to have enjoyed themselves along the way.”
Growing without losing what matters
Muna’s new Saadiyat campus marks an important step in the school’s evolution, providing the space, facilities and flexibility to further enhance the student experience and support the school’s long-term educational ambitions.
“The community is what makes it special, not the building,” he says.
His priority is to ensure that the warmth, care and sense of belonging associated with Muna remain immediately apparent when families walk through the doors of its Saadiyat campus.
That means valuing the small moments as much as the big milestones.
Pugh believes in being at the school gate, welcoming pupils in the morning and seeing them leave at the end of the day – everyday interactions that allow school leaders to truly know their community.
And amid the talk of Outstanding ratings, future-ready curricula and academic ambition, there is one word Pugh is determined not to lose: fun.
“Muna Primary has always been fun,” he says. “We need to make sure that whilst we are growing this loving, caring community with exceptional outcomes, even when you’re 15 and going through your GCSE options, it’s fun.”
It is perhaps the simplest expression of Muna’s next chapter: a school growing in size, age range and ambition, while holding firmly onto the qualities that made families want to be part of it in the first place.
Learn more about the growth of Muna or book a tour to see it in action: munabritishacademy.ae
