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Children's Choir LOGO colour

Hertford Children’s Choir is a choir led by Rachel and Sam Chaplin for anyone aged 8-13 who loves singing! Rehearsals are on Fridays 5.30-6.45pm at St Andrew’s Church Hertford. You don’t need any prior musical experience and there’s no audition requirement to join.
 
The choir will sing a range of music including folk songs, rounds, gospel songs and classical pieces, along with songs written especially for the choir. Warm-ups and simple songs will be taught by ear and other pieces will be taught with sheet music. Choir members will learn the basics of reading music and singing in harmony. The choir will perform in concerts and will also have the opportunity to perform every term within a service at St Andrew’s.
 
There will be two free taster sessions, on 10 January and 17 January, after which you’ll be invited to sign up for the rest of the term. Membership is £50 per term.
 
To register your interest, please fill in the form:

Sign up here

 

Your details (parent / guardian):
 

Your Name:
 
Telephone:
Email Address:


Your child's name, school and school year:


 

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The Hertford Children’s Choir Team


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Rachel Chaplin

Rachel is an international orchestral oboist and composer and also teaches oboe at St Albans High School. She grew up singing in school and church and is keen to give children the chance to experience the fun of singing in a choir, learning songs which will stay with them for life and learning basic musical skills: singing in harmony and reading music. She is married to Sam and they have three daughters.
 
Sam Chaplin Headshot
Sam Chaplin
Sam is a jazz trumpeter, singer, composer and choir director. He directs the Simon Balle community choir Take Note, as well as the London-based Choir With No Name. He leads and directs the band Jazzbomb, which performs at events around the UK and abroad.
 
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Jane Eldred
Jane is the Director of Music at St Andrew’s Church. She is a professional viola player and taught for many years at Simon Balle School and Hertford County Music Service. Jane directs the main church choir, which sings the services and an anthem weekly. Any Hertford Children’s Choir members who wish to develop their musical and choral training further can be given the opportunity to try out St Andrew’s Church choir, which follows the Royal School of Church Music ‘Voice for Life’ training scheme.
 
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Hello and welcome to St Andrew's. If you are new, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Planning your Visit

Banner group 1140x320A Warm Hello 

No one belongs here more than you.

We look forward to meeting you! Here's some information so that if you're planning a visit you know beforehand what to expect on a Sunday morning.  We have other pages telling you more About Us, our approach to Faith and our Online services.

Where and When

We meet at the Church Building (details below) for our main Sunday Service starting at 10.30am. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you find a parking space and can settle in before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team.

Plan your journey:
While, unfortunately, St Andrew's does not have its own carpark, there is a council-run pay and display carpark a short distance along St Andrew Street, to the east of the church; there is a £1.50 flat-rate charge for parking in this carpark on Sundays (though half an hour or less is free).

This is a useful East Herts Council website page for full details of parking in Hertford.

There are single yellow lines outside the church with parking restrictions, but some 30-minute parking bays are situated on the opposite side of the road for short stays (longer on Sundays).

Open Google Maps

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up. There is a disabled toilet towards the back of the church, behind the kitchen.

Our Service

The service will usually begin promptly at 10.30am and will last between 60 and 75 minutes. We enjoy the presence of an excellent choir who help us sing hymns (modern and traditional) as well as provide anthems and special songs through the period of communion. We have a traditional organ but also benefit from music played on the piano and by our band (eg on the Second Sunday of each month when we have an All-Age Service in which our children and young people are fully involved).

Each 10.30am service includes a sermon, prayers and eucharist.

After the service, everyone is invited for coffee and conversation - some like to stay for a quick chat while others remain in the church for a longer time.

Communion

Children and Young People

Children are never too young to come to church. You and your children are very welcome at St Andrew’s. 

We really value worshipping God together as a family, so children stay with their parent or grown-up at the start of the service before being invited to leave for the young people's activities after the first hymn. Junior Church meets in the St Andrew's Centre (our adjoining hall), accessed through the church on Sunday mornings. You will need to go with your children to their groups and register them as part of our child safety policy.

The children and young people then return to the main service in time to join the eucharist and, if confirmed, take Holy Communion or, if not, receive a blessing. We offer a little box of raisins to children being blessed at the altar.

There is a Children's Corner in church where you can go at any time. You will find books, toys and drawing materials there.

Toilet and baby-change facilities are located at the back of church, behind the kitchen.

There's more information here: Children and Young People at St Andrew's

Junior Church celebration

Getting Connected


Home Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our small groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week. Check out Home Groups on our website and see if there’s one that you could join. Alternatively, speak to a member of the Welcome Team who will give you the information that you need.

Serving and Volunteering

If you want to get involved in the life of the church and help us make Sundays run smoothly, you can sign up to serve on a team. Please contact Phil in the Church Office.

Get in touch with us
If you have any questions, please do get in touch. You'll find our contact details here.

We hope that you will feel at home at our church.

Group photo at the top of the page taken by Tim Pike