 The school was owned and run by Mrs Elisabeth Paul PhD (née Selver), assisted by her husband Henry Paul, Elisabeth Paul's father David was a former rabbi in Darmstadt, Heinz Paul was a German Protestant.Both emigrated in 1936 from Berlin to London where in 1937 they bought the school, originally called St. Mary's School, at 1 Belsize Avenue.The school curriculum was biased toward the learning of languages and the arts from an early age, and the pupils, aged 4 to 18 years, were primarily the children of artists, musicians, writers, film producers and actors.