PARS Trainers
PARS training courses are only delivered by our PARS Licensed Trainers. If you are an experienced trainer who would like to deliver PARS training in your area, please complete our application form to become a PARS Licensed Trainer. We will then contact you about the next steps and how to join our PARS training team!
Flora Chan
Hong Kong
Flora Chan graduated with a Bachelor degree in Education and a Masters degree in Applied Psychology in Hong Kong. She has over 6 years experience in special need student counselling and is one of the trainers on the “Playful Parents Project ” at Playright. Flora develops and delivers PARS training for parents in kindergartens, NGOs and Special Care Centers for children with special needs.
Rebekah Reece Jackson
UK
Rebekah Reece Jackson is a childcare, early years and playwork consultant and trainer with over 15 years of experience supporting the development of children’s childcare and out of school settings in both England and Wales. Rebekah stumbled across playwork early in her career working with children and young people and completed her MA in Play and Playwork at University of Gloucestershire. Rebekah founded her company The Bold Type Ltd after working as childcare strategic lead for a council in Wales. She is a trustee for Wrexham Youth and Play Partnership and a member of the Editorial Board for the International Journal of Playwork Practice.
QIAN Zheng (Caron)
Mainland China
QIAN Zheng (Caron) is the founder of the Shanghai Playwork Fund, Shanghai United Foundation. She was first introduced to playwork in 2015 when she undertook the Certificate of Playwork Practice in Hong Kong. Caron is now working to bring the PARS model to people who work with children across China by organizing and delivering PARS tailor-made training courses and PARS Masterclasses. She is also developing playwork projects in local communities to provide time and space for children to enjoy more free play. Caron obtained her Masters degree in Sociology of Childhood and Children’s Rights at University College London (UCL).
Min Sham
Hong Kong
Min Sham is a registered Social Worker in Hong Kong and has over six years of experience in playwork practice and training. He is particularly interested in outdoor play and demonstrating how natural materials can be turned into play materials through workshops and public demonstration projects. Working for Playright in Hong Kong, Min is responsible for developing the “Play in Park” project and empowering NGOs, professional bodies and government departments with knowledge and skill about children’s play.
Dr Shelly Newstead
UK
Dr Shelly Newstead created the PARS playwork model as part of her doctoral research at the UCL Institute of Education, London, and has been appointed as an Adjunct Research Fellow at Griffith University, Brisbane Australia. Shelly has worked in the playwork field for nearly thirty years as a practitioner, trainer, author, editor, publisher and researcher. She is the Series Editor for Advances in Playwork Research (Routledge) and the Managing Editor of International Journal of Playwork Practice. She is also currently the President of the International Council for Children’s Play (ICCP) and her research interests include the history of playwork and the development of empirical evidence about playwork practice. Shelly is also the author of the popular Busker’s Guide to Playwork which has sold over 12,000 copies worldwide and is now also available in Japanese.
Ada Wong
Hong Kong
Ada Wong has over twelve years experience of providing training in various kindergartens, professional bodies, tertiary institute, NGOs and government departments. She holds a Certificate in Hospital Play and has visited adventure playgrounds around the world. Ada is currently working with EUHK in Hong Kong to develop PARS training in higher education.
Potato Yu
Hong Kong
Potato Yu graduated with a Bachelor degree in Psychology from Chinese University of Hong Kong. He obtained a Diploma in Playwork Practice and is also a certified “Triple-P” provider. Potato is in charge of the “Playful Parent Project” at Playright in Hong Kong. In this role he uses the PARS model to raise public awareness of the importance of parent-child play in nurturing a happy and healthy childhood.
Susan Chlebowski
USA
Susan Chlebowski is a certified Montessori teacher and forest school leader who studies and teaches research-based models of living and learning that honor a child’s right to play and experience nature as part of a healthy, happy childhood. Her most recent focus work is outreach and advocacy to ensure that all children have access to the evidence-based practices of child-led play and learning, outdoors when possible.
Amy Brooks
UK
Amy Brooks has been in childcare for 20 years this year and has worked in a huge variety of settings from early years to being a Nanny and playwork of course. Playwork is Amy passion and in 2019 she brought her own preschool setting and has expanded it into Preschool with additional wrap around. Before this Amy was senior management for a multi club business within Cambridge for 7 years and went on to support the management and expansion of another Cambridge multi club company for a year after that. Amy is qualified to level 4 in Early years and has completed the Pars masterclass previously. Amy is extremely passionate about play in all areas of children’s development.
Heather Boomhower
Canada
I have been married almost 26 years, have 4 kids and 2 grandchildren. I always knew I would be a teacher of some sort, but I never realized I’d do most of my learning from the children. I took my 2-year Early Childhood Education and Development Diploma way back in the dark ages, the late 80’s. I have done a lot of professional development over the intervening years. I’ve been involved in helping get a conference for School Age Care up and running. This is my fifth school year with my current employer and have made leaps and bounds in my learning here. I am currently the Service Excellence Team Lead (helping ensure all 14 of our sites are maintaining government and company policies, staff support and training, etc.) and am currently enrolled in the PARS trainers course coming up in May. With well over 30 years in the business, I have worked in many environments. Nanny. Montessori. Home-based care. Religion-based. Themes. Cookie cutter. Then along came Playwork, and I found my niche! How freeing to be in an environment where the children are in charge of what they do! In my spare time, I like to visit with my grandchildren, read, play games, and I’ve made about 800 masks in the last year!
Dr. Jonathan McCloud
USA
Dr. Jonathan McCloud received his PhD in Curriculum & Instruction with emphasis on Educational Psychology from Virginia Tech in 2015. His research and teaching have included topics such as peer observation of teaching in higher education, play in educational settings, and early childhood education. Jonathan’s scholarly pursuits are linked by an expression of respect and care for the individual, and he is most interested in ways that play is fostered through democratic structures and agentive practices. Jonathan’s work with pre-service and professional educators focuses on how to reflect on one’s underlying assumptions of the teacher/adult role in the educational environment. Jonathan finds PARS playwork to be a natural extension of these pursuits as it aims to compensate children for the presence of adults in their time and space. Jonathan is a former classical guitarist and enjoys learning about Mister Rogers, cooking, and gardening. He also likes sunshine on his shoulders.
Janine Dodge
Brazil
Janine Dodge is currently a Director of the International Play Association (IPA) in Brazil. Formerly President, she has been guiding IPA Brasil in the development and expansion of their playwork training program since 2015. IPA Brasil offers the only certified Professional Qualification in Play Agents course in Brazil. She is a recognized speaker about play and coauthor of several publications, including the book, A Descoberta do Brincar (“The Discovery of Play”), documenting a national research initiative about play and the Brazilian family. Prior to joining IPA, Janine had a successful 20-year career as an executive and director in large multinationals in Brazil, Canada, the US and Chile. She has a degree in International Relations from the University of Toronto, an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and is a certified Master Integral Coach. She is the proud mother of 3 teen-age children, Luc, Sabrina and Alec.
Jen (Yan Zhan)
Mainland China
PARS Trainer, Child Psychotherapist, Montessori Teacher
Li (Guowei Li)
Mainland China
My name is Guowei Li, 40 years old and I come from China. I used to work as a crew member at Star Cruises in Singapore and Caribbean Cruises in the United States. I used to work as an on-site translator at Valley Longwall International Mining Equipment (Beijing) Co., Ltd. I am also a mountain bike track and pump track design and construction work. Now it is the general distributor of American Imagination Blocks in China and I am also a member of the International Play Association in China.
Sammi (Li Lu)
Mainland China
Sammi works with PARS Trainer Caron, running their own playground in Shanghai using the PARS model. They also offer tailor-made training courses to a range of adults including parents, community workers, business owners etc. Sammi wants to let more people in China know about PARS and the importance of play to children. Before joining Caron’s team, Sammi worked for a 4A advertising company for more than 10 years, and after having her daughter, opened her own travel agency, focused on family trips. She loves working with children and young people.
Sereena Keymatlian
UK
I started as a Playworker in 1998 working in school holiday playschemes while studying. In 2004 I completed my NVQ Level 3 in Playwork and worked as a Senior Playworker in After School Clubs, breakfast & lunch clubs and holiday playschemes. Over the years I have worked in various settings as a Playworker and manager, including, parks, community centres, , schools, street play, pop-up play events, youth clubs, and Adventure Playgrounds. Since 2010 I have worked as the Director of Haringey Play Association based at Somerford Grove Adventure Playground. I have attended the PARS masterclass and now looking forward to delivering the PARS training to others.
Christina Duff
Ireland
Christina was drawn to world of play and playwork through her work with children and research in children’s health and physical activity. Christina holds a BSc in Sport Science and Health and a QQI Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Early Childhood Care and Education. A graduate of Dublin City University, her masters research focused on children’s fundamental movement skill development and the design of an active play training programme for early childhood educators. Christina is a former chair of the Children’s Research Network’s Outdoor PLAE (Play, Leisure, Activity and Education) Special Interest Group. She is particularly interested in open-ended child-led play for health and wellbeing and has been featured on RTÉ Brainstorm radio show and podcast. Christina currently works for an Irish charity in the area of school health promotion.
Tracy Chen
Canada & Taiwan
I started as a Playworker in 1998 working in school holiday playschemes while studying. In 2004 I completed my NVQ Level 3 in Playwork and worked as a Senior Playworker in After School Clubs, breakfast & lunch clubs and holiday playschemes. Over the years I have worked in various settings as a Playworker and manager, including, parks, community centres, , schools, street play, pop-up play events, youth clubs, and Adventure Playgrounds. Since 2010 I have worked as the Director of Haringey Play Association based at Somerford Grove Adventure Playground. I have attended the PARS masterclass and now looking forward to delivering the PARS training to others.
Ellie Davidson
New Zealand
Ellie trained as a primary school teacher at Massey University in New Zealand, where she gained a Diploma of Teaching, Bachelor of Education, majoring in PE and Special Education. She spent time teaching in the UK, and shortly after gaining her UK teaching qualification, she returned to New Zealand to continue her teaching. She adjusted her teaching career to engage and learn about child development, having been a teacher she learnt so much which could support children and their development. Over seven years, she delivered numerous workshops to teachers, parents, community groups and training organisations about the importance of movement and how this relates to child development for young children. After starting her own family, Ellie returned to work managing the sport and recreation team at a nearby Council. It was during this time that she came across play. This, coupled with her love of child development ignited her passion in play. Since then she has supported national agencies, partners and programmes to grow the awareness, knowledge and understanding of play. Ellie currently works at Sport New Zealand as a Play Consultant.
Jo Hepworth
UK
Following the birth of her second child, Jo Hepworth decided she would become a childminder and this started her career in early years education. For the last 17 years she has provided advice and guidance to nurseries and Childminders in the London Borough of Southwark. Recently the Jo was given the opportunity to support Out of School Services, the afterschool and holiday clubs have a focus on play rather than the education. This new challenge was the impetus for her to look to Common Threads for training. Inspired by the training and the desire to support the clubs Jo decided to become a PARS trainer. Jo has a BA hons in Youth and Childhood Studies from The Open University and a PGCE in Adult Further Education from Greenwich University. Jo is interested in supporting people working with children additional needs and disability and provided respite care for young people with complex needs. She is also an assessor and trainer for the Certificate for SENDCOs in Early Years (PVI Sector) which is a level 3 qualification. Jo enjoys making and decorating cakes in her spare time and during lockdown she made the smallest 3 tier wedding cake for just her son and his wife.
Jess Hew-Martin
UK
Jess started her career in Playwork working as a playworker in the summer holidays in the village where she lives. After studying health and social care she decided to take a year out of studying and went to Nepal volunteering in schools. While there, she helped to rebuild and refurbish their libraries and also helped to encourage play within the schools. This experience taught her invaluable lessons about children and play and how the simplest of resources can create all sorts of creative and imaginative play! After returning home, Jess took on her current role as Playleader in the same club she started out in. Her experience in Nepal, previous role as playworker and completing the PARS POP course, fuelled her passion for play and the drive to encourage children to explore, take risks and let their imaginations run wild!