Victoria International School PROPRITORSHIP branch Sharjah - Kalba - Al Ghayl

Victoria International School Proprietorship LLC: Kalba delivers the Victorian Curriculum F-10 from Pre-KG through Grade 10, making it the only Australian curriculum school among Sharjah's 233 private schools. Teaching is structured around the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model, with all teachers trained in High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS) — a research-based framework synthesised from the work of John Hattie and Robert Marzano. In Grades 11 and 12, students choose between two internationally recognised senior pathways: the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), delivered through VISS's status as an IB World School, or the Global Citizen Diploma Programme (GCDP), an American-style general diploma accredited by Cognia. VISS Kalba received the 2024 Cognia School of Distinction Award — one of only 60 schools and systems recognised globally — for its delivery of the GCDP, a meaningful external validation for a school only in its third year of operation.

The school's first SPEA School Performance Review, conducted in November 2024 by a team of five reviewers across 101 lesson observations, awarded an overall rating of Good — the same rating held by 83 of Sharjah's 233 private schools. Inspectors found students' attainment and progress in most subjects to be good across phases, with a standout finding of very good progress in Islamic Education in both Elementary and Secondary. Student progress in science at Secondary was also rated very good, and attendance in Elementary and Secondary was described as very good. The MultiLit literacy programme was specifically commended for its measurable impact on students' English language skills — a notable strength given that 626 of the school's 652 students are Emirati and many are developing English as an additional language.

VISS Kalba's Learning Enhancement provision is unusually comprehensive for a school of its size and age. Programmes span the full age range from Pre-KG to Grade 12 and include the EAL/D Booster Program, Maths Booster Program, Executive Functioning Training Program, Perceptual Motor Programme (PMP), Gifted and Talented (G&T) support, and SEN inclusion with 14 students with special educational needs currently supported. Inspectors confirmed that students with SEN make good progress from their starting points. Arabic is taught from the Early Learning Centre alongside English, and Ministry of Education subjects — Arabic, Islamic Studies, and UAE Social Studies — are integrated throughout all phases, giving the programme a genuinely bilingual character.

Inspectors identified three clear areas requiring improvement. First, middle leaders need greater capacity to support departments on best practices in teaching — a structural challenge common in rapidly growing schools. Second, science teaching quality in Secondary was flagged as underperforming relative to the purpose-built laboratories available; students rarely undertake investigative work, limiting their ability to hypothesise, manipulate variables, and draw conclusions. Third, inspectors noted that the development of students' higher-order skills — including critical thinking, research, and extended writing — remains inconsistent across phases, with higher-attaining and G&T students in particular not always reaching their potential. These findings are consistent with a school still consolidating its academic culture, having grown from approximately 300 to over 750 students since opening in August 2022. [MISSING: IB Diploma pass rate and average score; GCSE or equivalent external exam results; university destination data]