Tellusgruppen Committed to a diversity of school programs: “It’s important to meet students’ needs”

Since the Tellus Group’s acquisition of the Robinson Schools in 2020, the business has grown. The key to success has been preserving the schools’ distinct focus on outdoor activities and experiential learning, while retaining the expertise from the previous operations within the new parent group.

"One of Tellusgruppen 's strengths is managing and building on what works well at a school," says Lisa Melberg, Director of Schools and Development at Tellusgruppen.

In 2020, Tellusgruppen acquired four Robinson schools, all located in Enköping. The schools have been operated by the subsidiary Tellusskolan, which, in addition to maintaining the schools’ distinct educational focus, has also expanded the program to reach more age groups. Today, a Robinson school in Åkersberga and a preschool in Enköping have also been added.

– Tellusgruppen ’s goal is to build on the strengths of the schools the company acquires, continue to develop them, and expand the concepts to reach more students.

One strategy for successfully maintaining a diversity of school profiles is to leverage the expertise that already exists within the organizations the group acquires. One such example is Lisa Melberg, who previously served as school director and principal at Robinson. She was also one of the founders of the first Robinson School in 1997.

“While I was studying at the teacher training college, I had a vision for a school concept based on experiential learning. The goal was to create a fun, social, and interactive school environment where students themselves would have the opportunity to actively participate in the lessons.” “We took out a loan, built our own school building, and were just able to recruit enough students to start the first school year,” says Lisa Melberg.

Robinson is popular among students and parents

Over time, Robinson has become a sought-after school choice in Enköping among students and their guardians. Key factors in its success have been fostering a family-like school environment, where a sense of security and community have been important pieces of the puzzle in promoting student learning.

– The schools have small student populations, which means everyone knows everyone else. This creates a family-like atmosphere where teachers develop close relationships with their students. We have consistently received high ratings regarding student safety and a peaceful learning environment in the Swedish Schools Inspectorate’s annual survey.

When Tellusskolan took over the operation of Robinson, Lisa Melberg transitioned from being self-employed to becoming part of the Tellus Group’s management team. Today, she serves as the group’s director of education and development, where she continues to address issues related to the education sector.

– For me, it’s been a real pleasure to continue working in a field I’m passionate about. At Tellusgruppen , I get to work on a broader platform and contribute on a more comprehensive level across all elementary schools and preschools.

– When we, who had started and founded the business, handed it over to Tellusgruppen , a positive development also took place at Robinson, which was interesting to observe. The key individuals—who were colleagues and had worked at Robinson for a long time—stepped forward as a new management team and built upon the ideas that had been the foundation of Robinson from the very beginning. Robinson was no longer dependent on its founders.

Read more about Tellusskolan Robinson here.

Today, Lisa Melberg is working quite intensively with Thea Schools, of which she is the principal, and which specialize in rhetoric and the Swedish language.

– It’s very rewarding to dive into a completely different concept, contribute my experience from my time at Robinson, and be inspired by schools that others have developed under entirely different circumstances. Given our ambition to acquire more operations, I look forward to getting involved in even more units with new opportunities and new challenges.

“With a larger company like Tellusgruppen behind them, those who work at the schools have the support they need to focus on educational activities. There is an incredible amount of expertise within the company, and together, everyone shares a common vision of developing and streamlining our operations based entirely on their unique profiles,” says Lisa Melberg. Read more about the Tellus Group’s operations.