Playscheme
In this section
Welcome to our Playscheme!
Say goodbye to stress and hello to smiles as your child has the time of their life at our playscheme whilst developing their social skills, creating friends, playing games and learning new skills.
From screen time to sunshine at playscheme we are always coming up with new and exciting play opportunities and we love hearing the children’s ideas and suggestions too!
Our playscheme is Ofsted registered and playworkers undertake minimum basic training including First Aid and Safeguarding before they start work.
2026 dates
Our playscheme will be running during the summer holidays from Monday 27 July to Friday 21 August, 8.30am - 5pm at Yorke Mead Primary School for children in reception to year six.
HAPpy bookings will be going live on Monday 6 July on the new HAPpy booking platform.
If your child meets the eligibility criteria for HAPpy (receiving Benefits Related -FSM), you will receive email messages from HAPpycamps@herts.ac.uk with a unique booking code and details of how to register your child and book. These messages are sent weekly in the run up to each holiday period.
For any questions regarding HAPpy, please see the FAQs page here.
Cost
- £30 per child, per day for Three Rivers residents
- £35 per child, per day for non-residents
Please note: Cancelling your space on Playwaze will not automatically refund you. Please see our cancellation policy for more details.
To find our Play community on Playwaze , please click here.
Summer 2026 Playscheme Visitors
In summer, we will be joined by a host of wonderful guests. Please see confirmed visits below:
Week one:
Thursday 30th July - Join our Play Rangers for some adventurous outdoor play🥏
Friday 31st July - Come and see Mr Marvel's magic fun show🎉🎈
Week two:
Monday 3rd August - Let the rhythm move you with an unforgettable African Drumming experience!🪘
Tuesday 4th August - Experiment, explore, and unleash your inner scientist with Wild Science experiments🧪🫧
Week three:
Tuesday 11th August - Join A-Life for healthy workshops and fun fitness circuits🏋️🥊
Thursday 13th August - Join our Play Rangers for some adventurous outdoor play🥏
Week four:
Tuesday 18th August - Get to know Ranger Stu and his exotic animals!🐢
Childcare vouchers
We use a number of childcare voucher schemes. If paying via childcare voucher, please specify this on your booking. Places are not confirmed until payment has been received. Please reference either the Ofsted registration number or our reference number stated below:
- Busybees/Bravo Benefits – ref 130624
- Care-4 – ref 67898299
- Childcare Grant Payment Service – ref CCG9857759
- Co-operative - ref 85100279
- Computershare Voucher Services - 0008245512 (ref Three Rivers Playschemes)
- Edenred – ref P20270818
- Enjoy Benefits - ref 130624
- Fair Care – ref TRDC0414
- Fideliti – ref Three Rivers Playschemes, THR009C
- Gemelli – TH3793
- KiddiVouchers – ref Three Rivers Playschemes
- My Family Care
- Rascals – ref EY557676
- RG Childcare – ref 62285990023
- Sodexo – ref 171181
Tax-free childcare
Three Rivers District Council are now a registered provider with the Government tax-free childcare scheme.
For every £8 you pay into your online account, the government will add an extra £2 (up to £2,000 per child per year)
Parents can find out more and apply to the scheme online at childcarechoices.gov.uk
If paying via tax-free childcare scheme, please specify this on your booking. Places are not confirmed until payment has been received. The following documents are helpful guides to applying for the Tax-Free childcare scheme and making a payment through the scheme:
A typical day at playscheme
Our playscheme day runs from 8.30am – 5pm with registration from 8.30am – 9am.
Registration will take place with our site leader on arrival at the entrance to the site. Staff will then direct you to where you and your child will need to go.
Staff are easily identifiable, they will be wearing green t-shirts with the Three Rivers District Council logo on them and their ID badge. They are available if you wish to discuss anything with them. If you require a quiet room to do this, please raise this with the staff member at the time.
Your child will be allocated to a group, primarily on their age. Each group will have their own space and this is where they will start and end their day at playscheme. Throughout the day groups will be able to mix with each other. This means children will still get to play with friends and siblings from other groups.
The groups are typically arranged by school years (dependent on bookings) as follows
- Green – reception and year one
- Red – years two and three
- Blue – years three and four
- Yellow – years five and six
A typical day will be a mix of indoor and outdoor games and activities, sports, arts and crafts. There will also be the opportunity for groups to mix and play team games. Lunch will be taken together in the middle of the day.
The playscheme day ends at 5pm with collection from 4.30pm – 5pm. Please contact us on 01923 776611 if you are running late for registration or collection.
If your child remains on site after 5pm the parent/carer will be charged £30 for every 30 minutes they are late. This is the cost to the Council for providing two members of staff to remain on site with your child. Any additional costs incurred by the Council will be charged to the parent/ carer.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What age(s) is playscheme for? |
Playscheme is for children currently in reception to year six. |
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My child is 4 and going into reception in September can they attend?
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Unfortunately, no. They are too young to attend our playscheme. |
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I want to pay by childcare vouchers
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Please visit our childcare vouchers page for more details. |
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I want to pay using tax-free childcare
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Please visit our tax-free childcare page for more details. |
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I am going to be late for registration/collection
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Please contact us if you are running late for registration or collection. You can contact the site on 07817035212. If your child remains on site after 5pm the parent/carer will be charged £30 for every 30 minutes they are late. This is the cost to the council for providing two members of staff to remain on site with your child. Any additional costs incurred by the council will be charged to the parent/carer. |
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I want to pick up my child early
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This is fine. Please let the staff know on drop off that you will be arriving early to collect your child that day. |
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Can I park at the school?
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Due to health and safety reasons, our Playscheme site has a strict ‘no parking on site’ policy. Please allow enough time to park considerately nearby and walk your child in. If the child or driver has a disability they can park on site. Please call the site phone to be let onsite. |
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Can my child be in the same group as their friends?
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Groups will be allocated based on age. Where possible we will do our best to group children with their friends but cannot guarantee they will be with all of them together. In order for us to consider this request please list the names of friends who are attending by sending an email to leisure@threerivers.gov.uk including the dates your child is attending and the names of any friends attending. Please note: Teams will be allowed to mix throughout the day at playscheme so siblings and friends from different groups will be able to play together. |
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What should I pack?
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To help us to keep you safe and our staff safe, children will need to bring the following:
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What should I not pack?
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We have a strict NO NUT policy at playscheme. Please also do not bring any of the following:
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What if my child is unwell? Will I be refunded?
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If your child is unwell and cannot attend playscheme please contact the office on 01923 776611. Refunds will only be given on medical grounds, supported by a letter from your Doctor; these will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and will only be for sessions missed. |
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My child requires 1-2-1 support
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If your child requires 1-2-1 support please email leisure@threerivers.gov.uk or contact the office by telephone (01923 776611) before making a booking. We do our best to accommodate various needs and provide support where we can. All requests for 1-2-1 support are considered on an individual basis, and we will work with families and schools to assess whether we can support and appropriately meet each child’s needs within our provision. If your child has been scheduled for 1-2-1 support (prior arrangements), please report to the 1-2-1 key worker at the Playscheme. Staff will communicate with parents on a daily basis. If staff feel that they cannot meet a child’s needs through 1-2-1 support, the parent will be informed and a refund of unused dates will be issued. |
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I need to amend or cancel a booking
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If you would like to change your booking to an alternative date (non-transferable between holidays), we will do our best to accommodate your request. Bookings cannot be changed between children or families. You can cancel your booking by logging in to your Playwaze online account. This will NOT give you a refund. Refunds will only be given on medical grounds, supported by a letter from the Doctor; these will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and will only be for sessions missed. |
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What do I do if my child needs medication administered while at playscheme?
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If this is a prescribed medication, you can report to the site leader at the sign in desk and you will fill out a permission to administer form. The medication will be kept in the staff room during the day. If your child requires any medication that is not prescribed during the day, you will need to make arrangements with the site leader to come to the gate at the time this is required. We cannot administer any medication that is not prescribed by a doctor. |
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How do I know what my child did in the day at playscheme?
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You can find out all about what your child gets up to at playscheme by joining our new Whatsapp channel. We will provide updates and reminders as well as letting you know what we are up to during the day. |
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How do I contact the playscheme site during the day?
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The site leader will have a site phone at all times during the day. The number is 07817035212. |
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How do I book a HAPpy space?
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Your child’s school will provide you with a unique code for booking. These bookings are not through the Three Rivers District Council website. You can book here. |
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Do you provide food at playscheme?
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The only children provided with hot food at lunch time are those who booked through HAPpy. Every other child needs a packed lunch and snacks for during the day. The children who are provided lunch will also need snacks for the morning and afternoon. |
For more information and answers to other frequently asked questions then click on the document below.
Ofsted
Ofsted registers, regulates and inspects childcare for children aged from birth to 17 years. Our Playscheme provision is Ofsted registered. Our Ofsted reference number is 130624.
Yorke Mead Playscheme was inspected in August 2025 and rated MET.
This grading is different to the previous Outstanding, Good etc as it was identified that the proportionate amount of time spent in out of school’s clubs / holiday provision should be play and recreation based, which would no longer have to meet the same educational criteria as schools or nurseries. As a result, a new grading system for out of school clubs was introduced to be either “met” or “not met”.
You can read the fantastic report here - Yorke Mead Playscheme.
If you want to get in touch with Ofsted you can email them at enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. For more information about Ofsted and further details on how to contact them please click here.
HAPpy
Hertfordshire’s Holiday Activity and Food Programme (known locally as HAPpy) runs during the Spring, Summer and Winter holidays. HAPpy Camps provide a range of fun experiences, including physical activity, enrichment, a healthy meal and snacks for eligible children. These camps are for children who are registered to receive benefits-related free school meals. Your school will provide a booking code up to six weeks before the HAPpy camps open.
Children attending our playscheme though HAPpy will be given a hot meal at lunch time provided by Top Notch Catering.
Please see the HAPpy FAQs for parents page here.
Three Rivers ACE
Accessible childcare for everyone
Three Rivers ACE helps families with the cost of holiday play provisions within the Three Rivers area. You may be able to access a number of playschemes (including Yorke Mead playscheme) at a reduced rate. Please visit our Three Rivers ACE page for more information.
Parent feedback
Summer 2025
“My son absolutely loves going to the summer playscheme and is always happy to go there. All the staff are so friendly and kind he loves the activities and I always feel happy to go to work knowing his safe and well looked after.”
“We had 2 children attend this week and they were incredibly happy. The young people supervising were so so impressive. My daughter is 8 and is a little shy, but the young girl (sorry I can't remember her name) and Matty / Matthew in particular, he was superb very kind and caring and she was really grateful he was keeping an eye out for her.”
“He is been enjoying all the activities so far. Every day he comes home tells us about it with huge excitement.”
“He loved that every morning as he arrived he got the warmest welcome from the Blues and everyone knew his name. Staff are kind and fun. He even said for week 2 his glad he’ll be going on time and won’t miss any of it. He enjoyed playing football on the field best, and dodgeball.”
“My daughter loves playscheme so much that she cried when her two weeks were up. She loves the enthusiasm of the staff and the variety of things to do on offer.”
“As I said before, as soon as we come at the morning happy people are greeting children and that’s very important. I’m the biggest fan of young people changing the world and your staff are definitely them!!”
“Fantastic staff, so helpful and accommodating. They looked after my daughter with special needs fantastically. I feel comfortable leaving her with them knowing that they can support her. My other daughter was nervous but came out beaming after and wanted to go back. It’s great that it’s localised and not too big. They knew plenty of people”
“I have 2 children aged 6 and 8 who both attended play scheme for 2 weeks (with one week off in between). They both had a great time at play scheme. I think the youth, energy and enthusiasm of the play leaders is fantastic. Despite our children attending Yorke Mead school, they were both very happy to go to play scheme there. Long may it continue!!”
Easter 2026
"Playscheme is amazing, thank you lovely staff!"
"I think having younger staff with the children really makes a difference. They are enthusiastic and they know what children enjoy. They are all so friendly on arrival and I never had any complaints from my girls about the day at playscheme."
"My girls are always exited about Playscheme, they attended different clubs and compared them, Playscheme is definitely their favourite! Great people and lovely food. We will be looking forward to see you all in summer"
"Child safety password are very good and ensures children safety when being picked up."
"Such a great service and the staff are always so friendly"
"Staff were extremely helpful and organised. My child enjoyed the activities and made friends with kids her age."
"The staff are very friendly, enthusiastic and kind. They enjoy seeing the same familiar faces each year. They loves doing crafts and the amount of choice of activities. One of their favourite things this Easter camp was Mr Marvel. They also like the lunch provided and that there are lots of children to make friends with. Its all just a real treat for them."
"The range of activities, the play leaders. From my experience also, the play leaders are amazing, they are so friendly, approachable and professional."
Children's feedback - Easter 2026
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Three Rivers District Council
Three Rivers House
Northway
Rickmansworth
Herts WD3 1RL
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