A headteacher who gained public recognition through the Channel 4 series Educating Cardiff has been barred from the profession after a misconduct panel found she changed school term dates to go on luxury cruise holidays.
Joy Ballard, 59, was found guilty of a string of allegations, including changing term dates on two occasions to accommodate her trips, using a school vehicle for a personal journey to France, and purchasing a karaoke machine, televisions, and camping equipment using school funds.
The panel heard that Ms Ballard fostered a “toxic culture of fear” at Ryde Academy on the Isle of Wight, where senior staff were reportedly too intimidated to raise concerns about her conduct.
Ms Ballard rose to prominence in 2015 while headteacher at Willows High School in Cardiff, featuring in the popular documentary series.
She took up the headship at Ryde Academy, part of Lift Schools, in September of the same year.
Her actions were deemed “unacceptable professional conduct” falling short of the standards expected of the profession, leading to her being struck off.
It was found that between July 2022 and June 2024 she used a Peugeot 5008, which was purchased for £30,000 by the school, for regular personal trips.
The car had been bought for the school as ‘it was costing a fortune’ to use taxis to transport children.
However she was “very often” seen using it during weekends, evening and breaks, and it was found to have done 22,000 miles in its first year.
She was also seen using the car to commute to work and at Easter 2024 she used it for a family holiday to France.
The initially denied taking the car across the Channel, but a booking reference was found for a ferry from Portsmouth to Caen with the car’s registration details.
The misconduct hearing also found that Ms Ballard changed the date of the end of the 2023 autumn term and the 2024 spring term to accommodate her personal family holiday.
A “last minute” staff bulletin was sent out which highlighted the change in dates.
Ms Ballard accepted that she changed the dates to accommodate her cruise, which docked on 3 January 2024.
On that day, she did not turn up to work and tagged herself on a Facebook post from the cruise terminal.
It was also found that on 10 February 2023, she had left an INSET day early to board another cruise.
Ms Ballard also admitted that she had used school funds to purchase camping equipment – having lied to staff about a £10,000 grant that the school had received.
This equipment included five tents and nine inflatable mattresses.
She later admitted that the project had been a “disaster” and a “waste of taxpayer’s money”.
She also admitted to buying a karaoke machine – which was to be used for X Factor-type events – and one or more televisions.
During her time at the school, she also admitted to not following the correct procedures for the collection and banking of the school’s cash.
Some of the processes within the school were found to be “chaotic”.
Her actions relating to the car and changing term dates were found to be dishonest and lacking integrity.
In 2024, she “stepped back” from her role, with her picture suddenly removed from school newsletters sent out to parents.
Concerns were raised in March of that year and an investigation began. She retired from the school in August 2024 before a referral was made to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA).
It was found that Ms Ballard was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and she has now been struck off from working.
References from colleagues said that she had a previously good history of teaching and provided evidence that she was an “inspirational leader”.
However the TRA found that “she did not demonstrate exceptionally high standards in her personal and professional conduct”.
She also won a Pearson Teaching Award in 2015.
A fan of Educating Cardiff contacted the tribunal to give Ms Ballard a positive reference, saying: “Your approach to some of the kids was exceptional. Your patience, kindness, the stand back and consider the situation was incredible.”
Richard Young, chairing the TRA hearing, said: “The panel considered this indicated that Mrs Ballard knew that she was doing this dishonestly and that there may have been a benefit in kind to her using the car in this way.
“The panel considered the evidence showed that Mrs Ballard had knowingly and dishonestly changed the dates of the term time for personal benefit.
“The panel noted that Mrs Ballard would have understood the implications of this as an experienced headteacher and that a personal reason would not be a sufficiently good reason to change the term dates.
“If parents and the community became aware of a headteacher using their position in this way, they would find this really concerning.
“The lack of financial planning and management in respect of the purchases of camping equipment and karaoke machine meant that these purchases were a waste of the School’s funds which would call the profession into disrepute.
“The panel considered that the public expects headteachers to act with total probity and honesty and the chaotic cash management system at the School led to suspicion from members of staff at the School, who should be able to trust their headteacher.
“The panel considered that public confidence in the profession could be seriously weakened if conduct such as that found against Mrs Ballard were not treated with the utmost seriousness when regulating the conduct of the profession.
“Mrs Ballard took part in the television programme Educating Cardiff, which Mrs Ballard described as ‘daring’.
“The panel accepted her explanation that she did this to promote the school and to showcase its pupils, despite it being described as one of the ‘toughest schools’ in the country.”
Marc Cavey, decision maker on behalf of the Secretary of State, said: “The findings of misconduct are serious as they include a headteacher behaving in a way which was dishonest and lacking in integrity.
“The lack of evidence that Mrs Ballard has developed full insight into her actions means that I concur with the panel that there is some risk of the repetition of this behaviour.”
Educating Cardiff was an eight-part documentary series which was the fourth part of Channel 4’s Educating series, following Educating Essex, Educating Yorkshire and Educating the East End.
