345 Springfield vs St James preschools?

[eversoW13]

Looking at both of these for my not-yet-very-social 3yo. Have visited and liked both. I think StJ is my first choice but 345 is much closer to home.

Does anyone have any experience with either they could share?

My daughter went to StJ for 2 years. My son went to 345 Church Crescent and I have good friends who had children at Springfield. I was incredibly impressed with StJ. Really couldn't fault them throughout the time she was there. My daughter was quite old for her age and she was really stimulated and incredibly happy and really ready for school. 345 was more a playgroup atmosphere. My son was less ready for school in terms of pre-phonics and academic stuff. This was also the case for friends at Springfield. I think it depends a bit on what your priorities are. 345 has the benefit of being in more green space so might be more appealing if you have no garden. 345 organisation used to be a little rougher around the edges but my experience isn't in the last couple of years so things might have changed.

thanks for this. your take on both schools pretty much matches my impression. stj feels very organized, & nurturing & the staff friendly & hands-on. 345 is a really lovely setting but the staff seemed more hands-off - we visited twice & were mostly left to look around on our own, though staff answered questions when we asked them. stj engaged more immediately & directly with dd.

dd is very sensitive & her first preschool experience last year was a bit of a disaster - a very loud, noisy, chaotic environment that she did not enjoy. so we want to avoid another similar situation that could result in her not wanting anything to do with school. that said, 345 didn't seem anywhere near as chaotic as that previous school, so it might be absolutely fine for her. plus it will have been a good 6 months since she left the other school & she'll be older, etc.

still, it's proving to be a very hard call! and a 5minute walk to 345 vs a 25min walk to stj has its advantages too...