Principal Doug Pettitt shares how the school helps young people build confidence, resilience and good judgement
PARTNER CONTENT: For parents choosing a school, academic outcomes will always matter. But there is another question that sits alongside results and progress: who will my child become here?
At Mamoura British Academy, Principal Doug Pettitt is clear that values cannot simply exist in prospectuses or displays. Children need opportunities to experience and practise them.
“Culture is a bit like an iceberg,” he says. “You’ll see all these nice messages on the surface and vision statements and values. But if it’s not actually lived and it’s not what you see on an everyday basis, then it’s not real.”
At the centre is the Mamoura Heart – the experience the school wants for every child, built around four defining elements.
Living the values
Mamoura’s TRACK values (Trust, Respect, Aspiration, Courage and Kindness) provide a framework, but Pettitt is interested in making those words visible in everyday school life.
Let’s take Courage. A new student-led broadcast – MBA News – recently went live across the school, putting pupils in the unfamiliar position of presenting to their peers.
“We are giving them the opportunity to be courageous and step outside their comfort zone,” says Pettitt. “It’s about creating those opportunities to live those values.”
Kindness is made equally tangible through #BeKindBeMamoura, with acts of kindness recognised and celebrated through assemblies and House Points. Yet some of the most important moments are less formal.
“It doesn’t always need to be recognised with a sticker or a badge; sometimes a quiet word or a meaningful conversation has far greater impact,” says Pettitt.
“Our staff aren’t simply teachers of subjects, they are teachers of young people – helping them develop the manners, behaviour, compassion and empathy that shape who they become.”
Through taking a risk, considering someone else or reflecting on a choice, TRACK becomes something pupils actively learn to live.
Knowing the child behind the student
Connection At The Core starts with knowing the individual child. Today’s young people are negotiating friendships and social pressures across physical and digital worlds, making understanding what is happening beneath the surface increasingly important.
Regular wellbeing check-ins help staff identify where additional conversations or specialist support may be needed, but central to that support are relationships.
“Pastoral support is the glue that fixes it all together,” says Pettitt. “It’s knowing the children and building those relationships.”
That philosophy was evident at the beginning of this academic year, when Mamoura devoted its first three days to team and relationship-building between students and their form tutors before moving fully into lessons.
Opportunity builds character
Opportunity In Action takes that development beyond the classroom. Mamoura is expanding sport and co-curricular activities, with gymnastics, basketball, swimming, volleyball, chess and martial arts among those bringing students, families and the wider community through the school gates.
These experiences allow young people to discover interests, challenge themselves and develop confidence, while supporting Mamoura’s ambition to become a genuine community hub “If we really believe connection is fundamental, we have to create meaningful opportunities that genuinely bring people together,” says Pettitt.
Parents as partners
That connection extends to families. With over 50 nationalities represented, Pettitt believes meaningful parent partnership begins with understanding the community the school serves.
A new platform designed to give families greater visibility of their child’s everyday school experience is currently being developed with input from around 20 families representing different backgrounds.
“Families are saying they want to be more engaged in the school-life of their children,” says Pettitt. “I’m designing this platform with their help and valuable inputs. And again, that builds relationships.”
Parents are not simply recipients of school communication, but participants in shaping how that connection works.
A happy and purposeful school
Ask Pettitt what he hopes will remain unchanged at Mamoura five years from now and his answer is immediate. “That people genuinely love coming to school. That they love their school.” It is not, he stresses, about making school easy.
Excellence Without Limits means maintaining ambition and challenge while ensuring children have the support to succeed.
“Learning should be tough and learning should be challenging. But you see the faces around the school. We have some very happy children here. And very happy staff too. That’s because we are connected.”
Perhaps that is where the Mamoura Heart comes together: children are challenged without ceilings being placed on what they can achieve; given opportunities to discover their strengths; encouraged to develop character and take responsibility; and surrounded by relationships that help them feel known.
“It’s a happy place, but a purposeful place,” Pettitt says.
For families, preparing children for their future is about more than what they know when they leave school. It is also about who they have become – and whether they have the confidence, judgement and resilience to make something meaningful of what comes next.
Discover the Mamoura Heart and a school community built on connection, character and belonging at mamourabritishacademy.ae
