Good North London primary schools

[Potatomasher]

If you had the choice between Tetherdown, Rhodes, Coldfall, Muswell Hill Primary, or Grasmere / Betty Layward in Stoke Newington... which would it be and why?

We loved Tetherdown and Rhodes the most from our visits, but in terms of neighborhoods prefer Stoke Newington by far. Unfortunately we were not able to visit Grasmere or BL (nor MWH primary for that matter).

Generally, we're looking for a small-ish school (1-2 form), with a warm atmosphere and with a good academic track record. Your advice or experience would be very welcome!

I have only idea about the schools in Muswell hill. Firstly, Muswell Hill is a lovely area to live in. Such a warm and friendly community. We love living here.
If you are looking for a small-ish school then muswell Hill primary and tetherdown are your options. There is also St. James, which is regarded very highly by the parents, if you are affiliated with the church. They are open to all faith but mostly the place go to siblings and people affiliated with church.
I understand why you liked tetherdown. We found it lovely as well. Kids seemed very happy and genuinely seemed to be having fun. My only concern is that they aren't able to support academically advanced children. If that's not your concern, it's a great school. Lovely facilities as well.
We toured all the schools in the area and loved Rhodes and coldfall the most. With Rhodes, you need to move very close to the school. I would suggest under 0.25 miles. The problem is that if you are anywhere that close to Rhodes, you get out of catchment for all the other excellent schools. And you can't predict how big the catchment area will be each year. We found a place which was 0.27 miles and didn't take it because it was just too risky. If we had just missed getting in, our child would have to go to bounds green which we didn't like. Otherwise it is an excellent school with great facilities. However, they do streaming at a young age which some parents like and some parents don't. So it's your personal choice.
We loved coldfall as well. Lovely facilties. Huge grounds. Forest school. I know children who go there and love it.

Academically, the Muswell Hill Schools are in a completely different league to the other ones. It’s probably the best area for primaries in all of North London.

However, the other ones are good too so if you prefer the vibe of Stoke Newington and are ok with a good school even if it isn’t wow, you could as well live there.