PARS Blog – Fear 0, Heather 1 – by Heather Boomhower, PARS Licensed Trainer
I have always hated public speaking, for as long as I can remember. Fear of ridicule, fear of rejection, fear of embarrassment. You name it, I had it! Even if I knew what I was speaking about, it didn’t matter. PARS changed me, and definitely for the better! My first baby step was doing one-on-one […]
PARS Blog – Introducing new PARS qualifications – a brand new playwork adventure! By Helen Dee, Lead IQA (Internal Quality Assurance), PARS Assessment Team
Exciting news! We are currently finalising our new Level 2 and Level 3 PARS Customised Qualifications, which we are hoping will be accredited by NCFE. Our PPP4 CQ has proved very popular and is currently running for the third time. However, one thing that some participants have told us is that going straight in at […]
PARS blog – PARS, playwork and A.S. Neill by Dr Shelly Newstead
I first came across A.S. Neill when I embarked on my doctoral research programme. At the time, there was a dearth of accessible playwork literature, and I was curious to find out what playworkers were reading and where they were getting their ideas from. So I set up a small survey and found that many […]
Common Threads becomes an NCFE Award Centre
Common Threads has been approved by NCFE as an international Award Centre and will begin offering accredited playwork qualifications around the world in the next few months. Approval as an NCFE Award Centre involves undergoing a comprehensive and thorough review to ensure that an organisation meets of a wide range of quality criteria, from […]
PARS Blog – “Your arse is not good” by Dr He Min, Professor of Early Childhood Education Department, East China Normal University, China
I observed a 3-year old boy, who stood near a swing made of rope with a wooden seat. The boy saw an older girl jump up and hold on a rope to make her sit on the seat and swing back and forth. When the girl left, he stretched his arm upward to hold the rope […]
PARS Newsletters
Exciting times for PARS playwork – download our recent newsletters! PARS News no. 1 Sept 2018 PARS News no. 2 Dec 2018 PARS News no. 3 Apr 2019 PARS News no. 4 Oct 2019 PARS News no. 5 Dec 2020 PARS News no. 6 Feb 2021 PARS News no. 7 Mar 2021 PARS News no. […]
Shanghai’s first adventure playground!
In January 2021, Shanghai opened its first PARS adventure playground in YangpuDistrict. Located in the biggest community garden in Shanghai, this place was originallydesigned as a play space when the community garden opened 6 years ago, but it wasnot carefully planned. The concept of adventure playgrounds isstarting to gain attention in mainland China,and at […]
New 2nd Edition of The Busker’s Guide to Inclusion
First published in 2005, The Busker’s Guide to Inclusion has consistently been our second most popular Busker’s Guide, with over 15,000 copies sold all over the world. The new second edition has been fully updated to incorporate current UK legal requirements, new thinking and additional guidance, plus a new further resources section. The author, Philip […]
International Journal of Playwork Practice: open access and online.
Following feedback from the growing playwork field around the world, the Board of International Journal of Playwork Practice are very pleased to announce that International Journal of Playwork Practice (formerly Journal of Playwork Practice, published by Policy Press) is now an on-line open access journal. Please visit the International Journal of Playwork Practice new website to submit articles, to sign up to the […]
PARS Blog – Daring to let go by Fiona Fan, China
Fiona Fan, who took part in a PARS Masterclass in Shanghai, China, describes how she used the PARS model to allow kindergarten children to explore a new experience on their own terms…. The weather suddenly became cold, and the water in the kindergarten’s fountain was frozen. The children were very excited when they went to […]