Nord Anglia Education has announced that it will acquire a group with three schools in Italy as it continues to expand its market presence.

The agreement with H-FARM International Schools, subject to regulatory approvals, will result in Nord Anglia growing to cover 35 countries around the world.

The three schools - H-FARM International School Venice, H-FARM International School Rosà (also near Venice) and H-FARM International School Vicenza - educate more than 1,150 students and have a focus on digital innovation, entrepreneurship and global citizenship.

Earlier this month H-FARM announced the launch of its Human Plus Curriculum, which aims to bring artificial intelligence into every subject.

Nord Anglia expansion

Touting the deal, Andrew Fitzmaurice, CEO of Nord Anglia Education, said: “H-FARM’s schools are redefining what it means to prepare students for the future.”

He added that Nord Anglia’s research into metacognition would align with H-FARM’s “forward-thinking approach to technology”.

Under the plan, Riccardo Donadon, founder of H-FARM, will remain as president, and he said he would “continue to closely support the development of our schools”.

He added that joining Nord Anglia was “a dream come true” and talked up the enthusiasm that the international schools group had shown for H-FARM’s focus on entrepreneurship and Steam (science, technology, engineering, arts and maths).

The deal in Italy follows on from Nord Anglia announcing in May that it had acquired its first school in Uruguay, as the firm continues to grow its global footprint in the international schools space.

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