History

The idea of founding a Dharma Primary School evolved from the family camps at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in Hertfordshire in the mid-1980s. Early in the 90's this interaction between parents, children and members of the Buddhist monastery inspired a group of parents to meet in Brighton with the aim of opening the first Buddhist School for children in the U.K.

On 9th September 1994, the Dharma Primary School opened its doors to four children in a house in Queen's Park, Brighton. On this special day the school received blessings from our founder patron, Luang Por Sumedho, a renowned Buddhist monk and teacher. We were also delighted to receive blessings sent from His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, who later became a patron of the school.

With this generous support of patrons and friends, such as Noy Thomson (M.R.Saisvadi Svasti) and Peter Carey, dedicated Buddhists and founder trustees, the school moved to The White House, Patcham, in June 1995 with eleven children. Since then a nursery and reception class and three mixed-age primary classes have been established and the school now provides a Buddhist based education to nearly 80 children aged 3 -11 years old.