Our
Story
It's undeniable that the COVID-19 pandemic has altered our way of life. Communication, connection, and socialization have all been affected. Unfortunately, many children have missed out on fundamental aspects of early childhood learning and school readiness as a result of lockdowns, isolation, and other challenges prevalent in the education sector today.
From this The Brick Academy was born!
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The Brick Academy focuses on teaching skills through the medium of both Duplo and LEGO bricks.
Unlike typical LEGO brick clubs, our organisation prioritises two primary sets of proficiencies: social-emotional and academic skills. Our objective is to cultivate a range of life skills, including cooperative teamwork, turn-taking, mutual attention, self-respect, respect for others' creations, brainstorming, and problem-solving, among others.
Then depending on the course selected, is the additional skills of either STEAM, Literacy, Mathematics etc.
Who am I?
Sara McCoid, the director of The Brick Academy, possesses more than 12 years of experience as an Early Childhood Teacher. Additionally, she is a Certified LEGO® Based Therapy Facilitator.
Raising three wonderful children, including two with Autism, has inspired her to pursue comprehensive experiential learning. This was particularly evident when raising a non-verbal child until the age of six, which highlighted various forms of communication that can be used.
Sara has channeled her passion into developing entertaining, interactive, and inclusive workshops that employ a play-based approach to teach academic subjects. These workshops prioritize social and emotional learning, emphasizing the development of essential skills.
Sara offers social skills workshops and courses using the LEGO® Based Therapy approach and principles, catering to children of all ages.
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Sara lives in local to the Newcastle area with her amazing supportive wife and three great kiddos and owns too much Lego to count.
“Tell me and I forget,
teach me and I may remember,
involve me and I learn."
Xun Kuang
So why LEGO®?
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Aside from all the important social, emotional and academic skills that engaging with LEGO brings (highlighted on the Home page), we believe that we learn concepts if we are hands on experiencing it ourselves.
LEGO invites children to engage and to practice the skills as they are being taught. This aligns itself with Papert's Theory of "Constructionism" which highlights that when children are engaged in a constructive project, such as a sandcastle for example, it facilitates the construction of new knowledge.
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At the core of every workshop is the values that we are not all the same but we are all equal.
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LEGO® bricks are also so much fun, and we believe learning should always be fun!