A HEADTEACHER has been appointed to lead a new Catholic girls’ primary school in Golders Green.

St Anthony’s School for Girls will open in Ivy House – the former home of the Romanticist painter JMW Turner and Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova – in September.

The Alpha Plus Group, which will run the school, has announced Laura Martin will be its founding headteacher.

She will join the school from her current role as assistant headteacher at Holy Family Catholic Primary School in West Acton.

Miss Martin said: “I am delighted to be appointed as headteacher of St. Anthony’s School for Girls. It is an exciting opportunity and I am looking forward to welcoming the first intake of girls to their new school.

“Ivy House is a wonderful building and will prove an inspirational setting for the education and personal development of young girls.”

Ivy House, which overlooks Golders Hill Park, is being refurbished to provide 14 classrooms, specialist science and art rooms, as well as a multi-purpose hall.

Anna Pavlova lived at the house for nearly 20 years, until her death in 1931, and it is believed to have also been occupied by JMW Turner.

A spokesman for Alpha previously said the school will be run with “the same ethos and values” as the existing St Anthony’s School for Boys in Hampstead.

Reception and Year 3 classes will open in September, and the school says it plans to grow organically after that.

It will eventually cater for 280 pupils aged four to 11.

Julian Drinkall, CEO of Alpha, said: “We are delighted to make this appointment and are extremely confident that Miss Martin will prove to be an excellent founding headteacher of St. Anthony’s School for Girls.

“Under her leadership, we will develop a successful Catholic girls’ school to complement the already outstanding offering at St Anthony’s School for Boys, Hampstead. We expect many positive linkages to develop over time between the boys’ and the girls’ schools.

“Miss Martin will be supported in her new role by Mrs Jenny Aviss, director of schools and colleges of Alpha Plus Group, Mr Paul Keyte, headmaster of St. Anthony’s School for Boys and the Pastoral Board at the school.”