Daylesford Dharma School (DDS) is a non-profit independent primary school (Foundation to Year 6) located on Dja Dja Wurrung Country in Daylesford, Victoria. Established in 2009, it is the first registered Buddhist philosophical primary school in Australia. It was co-founded by Geshe Konchok Tsering, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, refugee and now Australian citizen who served as spiritual advisor, and Andrea Furness who was also its first principal. The school’s governance and curriculum draw from the teachings of the Buddha and the Mahayana lineage. The practice of the five precepts (reverence for life, deep listening and loving speech, body responsibility, mindful consumption, and generosity) serves as both values and a shared language for the whole school community.¹  

DDS delivers the Australian Curriculum through an integrated Awareness Program, which opens each school day with 30–45 minutes of practice. Its experiential and inquiry-based approach is a project that embeds Buddhist philosophy directly into the Australian Curriculum General Capabilities. This is complemented by a Bush School curriculum offering place-based nature learning, a Compassionate Citizenship program, and the formal teaching of conflict resolution using Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication method. The school operates as a low-fee institution with a strong volunteering culture, aiming to make Buddhist-informed education accessible to all families. It represents a significant and distinctive model of Buddhist education integrated into mainstream Australian schooling in a regional community context. 

By Juewei Shi, Sue Smith