 The school, as St. Mary's School, was run by Mrs A. Geary from 1932 at 1 Belsize Avenue until taken over by Mrs Paul.At the onset of the war the school moved a short distance to 16 Wedderburn Road, where Mrs Paul and Mrs Ena Curry (of Dartington Hall School) were joint principals, but soon the school was evacuated to a house on the south Devon coast at Beesands.Many of the pupils then were from Jewish refugee families who had escaped from Germany.