{"id":943937,"date":"2026-05-07T14:13:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T14:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/943937\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T14:13:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T14:13:14","slug":"shock-as-second-headteacher-leaves-bristols-biggest-school-in-a-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/943937\/","title":{"rendered":"Shock as second headteacher leaves Bristol’s biggest school in a year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Parents at one of Bristol\u2019s biggest schools have been reassured that \u2018school life continues as normal\u2019 after academy chiefs announced that the school\u2019s second headteacher this academic year had resigned.<\/p>\n

Leaders at Merchants Academy, an all-ages school in Withywood, said that headteacher Katy Reeves had resigned \u2018for personal reasons\u2019, and the academy trust that now runs the school had \u2018accepted her decision with immediate effect\u2019.<\/p>\n

In a letter to parents, E-Act\u2019s national director of secondary, Niall Gallagher told them: \u201cWe recognise that this news comes after a recent period of change, and we appreciate that this may feel unsettling for some.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease be reassured that the school remains in very good hands,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

E-Act, the multi-academy trust that runs Merchants Academy, has appointed Fiona Chapman as interim headteacher.<\/p>\n

Mr Gallagher said she was: \u201cA highly-experienced senior leader and Education Director from within the Trust who has worked extensively in Bristol schools, is already working closely with the team to support the academy during this period and will take on the role of interim headteacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Society of Merchant Venturers ‘not fit’ to run Bristol schools says former headteacher<\/a>READ MORE: The remarkable turnaround of the worst school in Bristol<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAlongside this, we are beginning the process of recruiting a permanent headteacher to lead the academy going forward. For our students, school life continues as normal, supported by staff they know and trust,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Mrs Reeves was appointed headteacher in October 2025, when previous headteacher Guy Swallow was promoted to be the executive head of Merchants Academy, overseeing the whole school and also working in other E-ACT schools across Bristol.<\/p>\n

He resigned with immediate effect over Christmas, leaving Katy Reeves in overall charge, until this week.<\/p>\n

\"Headteacher<\/p>\n

Headteacher at Merchants Academy, Guy Swallow(Image: Merchants Academy)<\/p>\n

With Fiona Chapman as interim headteacher, whoever the permanent headteacher appointed is after her will be the seventh person in charge of Merchants Academy in four years, since the long-standing head Sam Williamson left in 2022.<\/p>\n

Ms Williamson took the school out of special measures in 2020, but after her departure, in early 2024, the school had a damning Ofsted inspection – within just a week or so of the arrival of Mr Swallow.<\/p>\n

Within months, Merchants Academy and other schools in Bristol run by the Venturers Trust were handed over to national school chain E-ACT, with local community leaders saying the Venturers Trust – the organisation set up by the Society of Merchant Venturers and the University of Bristol<\/a> – had \u2018let down an entire generation of young people in South Bristol\u2019.<\/a><\/p>\n

E-ACT and Mr Swallow turned the school around in just the first full academic year<\/a>, but the second year under E-ACT has now seen a return to changing leaders, at least at the top of the school organisation.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: South Bristol’s biggest school announces name change<\/a>READ MORE: Hartcliffe finds its voice as \u00a320m boost arrives<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the school announced in January that it was to drop the ‘Merchants’ Academy name<\/a>, and was working with pupils, staff and the local community to come up with a new name.<\/p>\n

One local councillor said she was \u2018really sorry\u2019 to see the update from the school, and she was sending \u2018solidarity to everyone affected\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy thoughts are with pupils, families, carers and staff, who will understandably be feeling unsettled by this news,\u201d said Cllr Kerry Bailes (Lab, Hartcliffe<\/a> & Withywood).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is now the second headteacher to leave Merchants\u2019 Academy this year, and I know that repeated leadership changes can feel worrying for a school community, especially for children and young people who need stability, consistency and reassurance.<\/p>\n

\"Merchants<\/p>\n

Merchants Academy with, inset, Cllr Kerry Bailes (Lab, Hartcliffe & Withywood) (Image: Bristol Post)<\/p>\n

\u201cI welcome the Trust\u2019s confirmation that Fiona Chapman will be stepping in as interim headteacher and that school life will continue as normal for students. I hope the Trust will now communicate clearly and openly with families about the next steps, including the recruitment of a permanent headteacher and how pupils and staff will be supported during this period.<\/p>\n

\u201cMerchants\u2019 Academy is an important part of our local community, and pupils, parents, carers and staff deserve stability, confidence and strong support going forward,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Parents at one of Bristol\u2019s biggest schools have been reassured that \u2018school life continues as normal\u2019 after academy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":943938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,2266,393,4884,14344,10002,16,15,25179,20076],"class_list":{"0":"post-943937","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-education","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-hartcliffe","14":"tag-south-bristol","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-university-of-bristol","18":"tag-withywood"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116533711804283921","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=943937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/943938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=943937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=943937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=943937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}