Featured School
Victoria International School of Sharjah …
creates global citizens and leaders of tomorrow
“The
best
schools
collaborate with other
schools. You learn by
doing that. You give
and by giving to others,
you get. If you want to
be a good school, you
should be sharing your
practice for what works,”
VISS Executive Principal,
Mr Dean Pyrah.
T
he Victoria International School
of Sharjah (VISS) lies on a
sprawling compound along the
Corniche in Sharjah. The school,
under the patronage of HH Dr. Sheikh
Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi,
follows the Australian curriculum and is
led by Principal, Mr Dean Pyrah.
“HH Dr. Sheikh Sultan, Member of
the Supreme Council and Ruler of
Sharjah wanted to build a world class
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school here in Sharjah. In observing
the
Australian
curriculum,
His
Highness believed that it would be
a good fit for Sharjah because the
Australian curriculum is very enquiry
based and holistic. A memorandum
of understanding was signed by the
State of Victoria (in Australia), the
Department of Education and the
Government of Sharjah approximately
nine years ago,” states Mr Pyrah.
Class Time
As an international school, VISS
maintains strong ties with the
Department of Education in Victoria
and the Victorian Qualification
Authority. As such, most of its teachers
are recruited directly from Australia
where they have been trained and
certified by the governing bodies in
Victoria. There are approximately 130
teachers across the school from K-12,
with 70% of them being Australian.
“The quality of education that we
provide, is very similar to what you
would get in a top Australian school,
unlike other international schools
that might loosely call themselves
Australian,” comments Mr Pyrah, “we
are proud of that.”
One key mandate of this school is
retaining the Australian curriculum,
as well as ensuring quality control in
keeping with the Australian education