At Victory Heights Primary – City of Arabia, our British curriculum is carefully sequenced to ensure coherence, depth and progression across Foundation, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. Each stage builds on the last to develop confident, inquisitive and resilient learners.
Why Our Curriculum Matters
We believe that learning should be purposeful, connected and rooted in both knowledge and application. Our curriculum is designed to develop core subject knowledge, but also the habits of mind that help pupils think critically, communicate effectively and thrive in a changing world.
Across all stages, our teachers place a premium on depth over breadth, ensuring pupils master key concepts before moving forward.
Coming from an IB background, I value inquiry-led learning and conceptual understanding. At City of Arabia, I have been impressed by how the British curriculum is delivered with similar depth — encouraging pupils to think critically, ask questions and make connections.
It is a curriculum that balances strong academic progression with intellectual curiosity.
Curriculum Stages
Our curriculum is structured in three progressive stages, each with its own focus and milestone expectations:
Foundation Stage
FS1–FS2: Play-based exploration and early literacy, numeracy and personal development.
Key Stage 1
Years 1–2: Building core knowledge and confidence through structured learning in English, maths and cross-curricular themes.
Key Stage 2
Years 3–6: Deepening understanding, developing independence and applying knowledge across subjects.
What Makes Our Curriculum Distinct
Our curriculum is more than a list of subjects — it is a purposeful architecture that ensures depth, coherence and progression. Key features include:
- Sequence and Mastery – Carefully mapped progression so that pupils build on knowledge year by year.
- Assessment for Understanding – Regular formative checks shape instruction without over-reliance on tests.
- Character & Wellbeing Built In – Skills such as resilience, collaboration and self-management are woven into learning.
- Real-World Application – Projects and cross-curricular work help pupils connect learning to context.
How Does Victory Heights Assess Learning?
Assessment at Victory Heights Primary – City of Arabia is designed to recognise the individual. We understand that every child has unique strengths across academic, creative and physical disciplines, and our framework reflects this breadth.
Teachers use ongoing formative assessment to adapt teaching and address misconceptions, supported by carefully selected benchmark assessments at key points in the year. This balanced approach combines professional judgement with clear data to ensure every child is known, supported and appropriately challenged.
What Are the 7 ELLI Learning Dispositions?
Rather than emphasising early grades, Victory Heights develops seven core learning dispositions drawn from Bristol University’s Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory (ELLI). These dispositions are woven throughout our curriculum and school culture, building the habits and attitudes that will serve children throughout their lives:
- Bee — Learning Relationships
- Cat — Critical Curiosity
- Chameleon — Changing and Learning (Adaptability)
- Owl — Strategic Awareness
- Spider — Making Connections (Meaning Making)
- Tortoise — Resilience
- Unicorn — Creativity
Education is a journey, not a race. We balance high academic standards with personal growth.
Victory Heights Primary SchoolFrequently Asked Questions
We follow the National Curriculum for England (often referred to as the British Curriculum), carefully adapted to reflect our international context and statutory UAE requirements, including Arabic, Islamic Studies (for Muslims) and Moral, Social and Cultural Studies.
Our core academic programme mirrors that of high-performing schools in England, ensuring academic rigour, progression and continuity. For families relocating between the UK and Dubai, this provides a seamless and reassuring transition.
Our approach is traditional in the best sense of the word: clear objectives, strong subject knowledge and high expectations. We believe children thrive when teaching is explicit, structured and intellectually ambitious.
Within that clarity, there is space for curiosity, creativity and independent thinking. Secure knowledge is not the opposite of imagination — it is the foundation for it.
Children benefit from a wide range of specialist subjects, including swimming, music, Arabic, Spanish and STEAM. Each subject is delivered by a dedicated specialist teacher, ensuring depth of expertise and high-quality instruction.
This breadth enriches the curriculum beyond the academic core, allowing children to discover interests, develop new skills and build confidence across a variety of disciplines.
See the Curriculum in Action
We would love to show you how our curriculum works in practice. Join us for a personalised tour to experience learning across all stages.
Explore the different key stages