“At the start of our free school bid we realised that we would benefit from the input of experienced professionals who had a clear understanding of the application process. We enlisted this support under the coordination of Martin. He was involved during most stages of our application including finalising the application form, in preparation for submission, and attending the DfE interview. Having someone who was outside of our core team added a fresh perspective and his experience brought a sense of confidence and assurance to the team. This led to a successful outcome to our application.”
Martin Smith - Project Lead – The London Riverside School
“We recently had the pleasure of working with Martin to ensure we carried out our Statutory Public Consultation prior to the opening of our school. We found him to have a very supportive approach, recognising the skills we could bring to the process and ensuring that we were informed and clear about the process throughout. Martin collated the findings of the consultation process and produced a robust report for us to submit to the DfE.”
Emma Perry, Director for Schools, Big Life Group
“Martin started working for our trust when the Deputy Director left to take up a senior post with Ofsted. Martin quickly got to know our academies and took on a lead role in collaborating with Leeds City Council in the construction of a new-build primary school. He was meticulous in his work and maintained a professional approach throughout. He led the development of a Free School application for the trust and successfully completed a due diligence exercise for a secondary school in the Greater Manchester area. Throughout his work for our trust he has been optimistic, problem solving, positive and rigorous.”
Frank Norris – Director of the Co-operative Academies Trust – September 2015
“The support of Martin Sweeney (Optime Business Services) has been invaluable during this my first year of headship. It is reassuring to have found an expert in the field who not only has a wealth of knowledge and experience of school leadership, but who also has firsthand experience of the challenges experienced by Headship and who is always on hand to listen, coach, advise and support in making those demands more manageable. I have been able to draw on his services from writing a school SEF to restructuring the workforce and cannot recommend Optime Business Services highly enough.”
Mrs Daphne Byron – Headteacher - Marlborough Primary School – Harrow
“Martin Sweeney worked with us and produced for me a most comprehensive report on the state of our curriculum. He interviewed a range of staff and pupils as well as looking at policies and other documents. In his report he included a number of curriculum models which helped us to rethink our plans. Throughout the process he kept me in touch, his manner with staff and pupils was exemplary. I was highly delighted with the whole process and certainly received excellent value for money. I intend on bringing Martin back again to assist with the next stage of our curriculum development. This was a thoroughly professional service of the highest quality.”
Barry Carney - Head of School
“The school asked for Optime Business Services to review all our 2014-15 data and key documentation, in order to then write out SEF report. We used Optime having worked successfully with Martin Sweeney on previous projects. Martin is highly professional in all tasks he undertakes. He is up to date with national educational policy and practice and he communicates well orally and in writing, by reporting he exact requirements that the school has specified. I have used his services to support SEF writing when in previous schools, as well as assisting the work of an Interim Executive Board (IEB) for a previous school in ‘special measures’. I have always found him to be prompt, concise and informative in the documents that he has produced.”
Zoe Sharman – Headteacher - August 2015
“Having worked closely with Martin during the setup of our Free School I am happy to recommend his work to anyone considering him as an Education Contractor during the setup phase. Our team of consultants have provided us with much needed expert advice and guidance throughout the project and were available to discuss any issues we may have had at very short notice.
All aspects of the contract were fulfilled on time and to a very high standard with consultation with our own team where necessary. At no point in time did I feel as if we were not controlling the project nor did I feel as if we were not fully supported.”
Matt Chambers – Headteacher
“Working with Martin Sweeney as our educational support in the development of The Heights Alternative Provision Free School has been a very positive experience. Martin was engaged to write all out education policies, complete our formal (Section 10) Stakeholder Engagement process and manage the production of our educational brief and School Improvement Plan. The dedication, support and knowledge that he provided was invaluable and his flexibility to modify our original brief as we developed as a group enabled us to have input where it was needed most.
We would have no concerns in recommending Martin Sweeney for assisting in the opening of future schools and development of the policies that help keep a good school running without losing sight of the initial vision – something that is extremely important in the development of a Free School.
Throughout the process Martin kept us in touch, his manner with staff and Stakeholders was exemplary. We were pleased with the whole process and certainly received excellent value for money. All aspects of the contract were fulfilled on time and to a very high standard with consultation with our team where necessary. At no point in time did I feel we were not controlling the project nor did I feel as if we were not fully supported.”
George Sinclair – Headteacher
“I worked with Martin Sweeney from October 2012 to May 2013. His support has been of great value in helping us to open Plymouth School of Creative Arts, a Free school opening in September 2013. During that time he has shown a high level of professionalism ensuring that any work completed is completely tailored to our needs and approach. He has provided a healthy and pragmatic perspective based on his experience as both a consultant and as a Head.
Martin worked on co-ordination of our approach ensuring that the school got good value. The policies that he has developed will give us a tremendously useful platform based on our aims and ethos. They are also compliant with the most recent changes in education nationally. Martin has ensured that I have felt supported as a newly appointed Head which coupled with perspective attitude has made the process rewarding and successful.”
David Strudwick - Headteacher
“Nightingale Primary Academy opened in September 2014. The initial opening was in a section of an incomplete building (Phase1). Martin Sweeney (Optime Business Services) has supported the school since early 2015 through the completion of the building. Support has included liaising over snagging and defects, linked to the handover of (initially) Phase 1 and more recently, Phase 2 of the project, supporting the school through the handover of Phase 2 and managing the internal installation of all furniture, fixtures and fittings. Martin has been meticulous in his support for the school, liaising with contractors and ensuring budgets are controlled and best value achieved. The support we have received has been of a high quality and essential to school improvement. It has allowed me to focus on developing the staff team; ensuring we provide a quality education to our children in a quality environment.”
Rebecca Ingram – Headteacher – September 2015
“The Inner East Cluster is a multi-disciplinary team offering attendance, behaviour, family and therapeutic support for children and their families, across an area of inner city Leeds. The work is funded by 14 primary schools and 2 high schools and is provided by a mix of staff employed directly by schools and services commissioned from local providers.
We met with Martin to discuss him completing an evaluation of our commissioned services. He interviewed a range of school staff and service providers; at all times Martin was professional and proactive and kept us informed about the progress of the work.
Martin collated the findings of the evaluation into a report for us to discuss with the Cluster Leadership group. All aspects of the work were completed on time and to a very high standard with regular communication and consultation with myself and the wider Cluster Leadership group where necessary.”
Diane Walker – Inner East Cluster Leader - July 2016
“I have recently worked with Martin Sweeney in relation to the newly constructed 2 Form Entry Nightingale Primary Academy in Harehills (Leeds). Martin has been extremely proactive and methodical in his approach to resolving the current outstanding defects to ensure they are completed within the formal 12 month defects period. He has managed the running of the whole defects process and liaised directly with the contractor and Clerk of Works on site. Without Martin’s commitment to the project and his drive to move this forward I don’t believe we would be in a position where there are only a minimal amount of defects still outstanding.
He is extremely conscientious and has taken charge of this element of the project in order for the school staff to be able to concentrate on their day-to-day duties. Martin has been a pleasure to work with and I wouldn’t hesitate to work with him again, or to recommend him to a colleague. We have a good working relationship and it has certainly been of great benefit having Martin on the project team.
I am extremely grateful for all the hard work and hours he has committed to helping Leeds City Council and Nightingale Primary Academy.”
Adele Robinson – Principal Development Officer - August 2015