As International Happiness Day approaches on March 20, international schools have looked to innovative approaches to student wellbeing including lego groups, yoga, podcasts and Inclusion Ambassadors. Julian Hall finds out more.

Nord Anglia has announced the acquisition of its first schools in Dalian, a port city in Liaoning Province in north east China.

With challenges like mental health, one single central policy isn't going to work.

Nord Anglia Education, which owns a string of independent schools will move its global headquarters back to London six years after relocating to Hong Kong.

Hong-Kong based international schools operator Nord Anglia Education is set to be taken private again in a $4.3bn deal with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Baring Private Equity Asia.

Nord Anglia Education, one of the largest international school providers, will acquire six schools from Meritas later on this year, in North America, Europe and Asia.

Further signs of the profitability of the international school sector were seen at the end of last month when provider Nord Anglia raised US$304 million in its initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange. This September the group is set to open two more schools in Hong Kong and Dubai.

In a major transaction in the international schools sector, World Class Learning (WCL) Group has been sold to another major player, Nord Anglia Education, in a deal which sees Sovereign Capital "realise the investment" it made in WCL Group – which operates 11 schools globally – in 2008. The acquisition is said to be worth US$222 million.