Curriculum

Bali Dharmada School Curriculum

Bali Dharmada School is a registered Indonesian school, accredited to deliver the national Indonesian Independent Curriculum (IKM - Indonesia Kurikulum Merdeka) to students in SD (grades 1-6), SMP (grades 7-9), and SMK (grades 10-12). Our program is delivered in Indonesian and English. All international students will be required to learn Indonesian which will be taught in dedicated Indonesian classes, but also taught through working with local experts. Students will be expected to be willing to listen to and attempt to speak Indonesian at every opportunity.

Hands-on, land-based, community-centred learning takes place for all students from Monday to Friday each week. From Monday to Friday, Bali Dharmada School’s program is designed around teaching students small-scale, sustainable, community-focused skills. All students will learn academic subjects by applying them to local skills acquired and practised through learning from and working with local experts.

Saturdays are reserved for revision and preparation for the national exams.

Indonesian citizens are required to write national exams. International students seeking official records of completion need to write the Indonesian national exams.

Example term schedule

sample schedule

Every 9-week term is planned in 3-week blocks. Week 1 and Week 3 of every 3-week block follows a “regular” schedule of 8am-4pm, drop-off and pick-up at BDS’s Desa Bukit campus, but Week 2 is our camping adventure week.

During Weeks 1 and 3 of every 3-week block, we will engage in adventures in and around the campus, in preparation of our camping adventures, and putting into practice what we learned while camping. We spend most days off-campus, learning to forge knives at the local blacksmith, or chopping bamboo at a neighbouring farm (with the knives we just made) to make structures at the school. We learn about local plants and how to cook, and help in the community if possible and necessary. Every day is spent actively doing something, on or off campus. Our learning often looks like “work”, and our students understand that work done in support of others brings happiness and fulfillment to everyone. We get dirty and sweaty, and when the work is done, we will swim in the ocean, the river, or in the natural spring to re-energize.

During “regular” weeks, school provides plant-based zero-waste snacks at 9:30 and 3pm; and plant-based zero-waste lunch at 12pm. No outside food is permitted.

During Week 2 of every 3-week block is a camping adventure (Therefore, in a 9-week term, we generally go camping during Week 2, Week 5, and Week 8). Our camping weeks take us further afield, around Bali, to learn about the magical island that allows us to live and learn so much, and to understand how we can support each other and our planet.

Camping adventures are the heart of BDS Adventure High. It is through these shared experiences that our students form strong relationships, where they learn how to provide support to each other, take responsibility for their own and the group’s actions, and how to make a positive impact on the world.

Camping adventure 1 (Week 2): Sacred Bali

This week, students learn about the most sacred places in Bali, following the water (which gives life) from its source in the mountains to its mouth in the ocean, and Balinese practices around gratitude and respect.

  • Day 1: Depart Bali Dharmada School for Gunung Agung Base Camp. Set up at Gunung Agung Base Camp. Camp overnight.
  • Day 2: First day of climbing up Gunung Agung. Set up camp and overnight on Gunung Agung.
  • Day 3: Descend Gunung Agung. Drive to Telaga Surya. Set up camp and overnight.
  • Day 4: Rafting on Telaga Waja. Drive to beach. Set up camp and overnight.
  • Day 5: Reflection and gratitude. Return to Bali Dharmada School by 3pm.

Camping adventure 2 (Week 5): Bali’s microclimates and trees

This week, we visit the different microclimates in Bali - where it’s hot, where it’s cold, where it’s wet, and where it’s dry. We learn about the different trees, what they give us, how to use them as food and medicine, and how to protect them.

  • Day 1: Meet at BDS. Leave for coffee and oranges plantation; overnight in Kintamani
  • Day 2: Mangoes, jackfruit and teak; overnight in Desa Kubu
  • Day 3: West Bali National Park; overnight in West Bali
  • Day 4: Cashews and chocolate: overnight in East Bali
  • Day 5: Coconuts and bananas; return to Bali Dharmada School by 3pm

Camping adventure 3 (Week 8): Jumping into water

This week we explore the rivers that carry life (in the form of water to rice fields) around Bali. We find hidden waterfalls and magical canyons, and understand the many ways that plastic waste and climate change are poisoning the water and damaging the waterways. We put in place actions to undo as much harm as we can.

  • Day 1: Meet at BDS. Leave for north Bali. Basics of canyoning. Visit first waterfall. Overnight in north Bali
  • Day 2: Full day canyoning in Gitgit. Overnight at Gitgit
  • Day 3: Depart for central Bali. Canyoning and swimming in central Bali waterfalls and springs. Overnight in Tabanan.
  • Day 4: Hunt for the best waterfall in Bangli. Overnight in Sidemen
  • Day 5: Tubing, then head back to BDS by 3pm

All meals and snacks are provided for students during camping weeks. All meals are plant-based and zero-waste only. No outside food is permitted.

Boarding

We offer the option of students boarding (weekly, or full term) in homestays Desa Bukit under the supervision of Bali Dharmada School houseparents.

For weekly boarders, BDS provides a bus on Sunday evenings leaving Ubud at 4pm to arrive in Desa Bukit for Sunday night dinner; and Friday afternoons leaving BDS at 4pm arriving in Ubud around 5:30pm.