Headmistress ‘changed term dates’ to go on luxury cruises, tribunal hears

A headteacher who starred on TV changed the dates of school term times just to accommodate luxury cruise trips she went on, a misconduct panel has heard.

Joy Ballard, who shot to fame on Educating Cardiff, allegedly changed term dates on two occasions to accommodate cruise trips she was going on.

She also used a school car for a personal trip to France and bought a karaoke machine with school funds, it has been alleged.

Ballard is said to have created a ‘toxic culture of fear’, leaving senior staff too scared to make any complaints about her conduct.

Ballard appeared on the hit Channel 4 show in 2015 at Willows High School in the Welsh capital.

Shortly after the show aired, she left to become principal of Ryde Academy, later renamed Lift Ryde, on the Isle of Wight.

In 2024, she ‘stepped back’ from her role – with her picture suddenly removed from school newsletters sent out to parents.

In July 2024, the Academy Enterprise Trust, now Lift Schools, said the departure was for ‘personal reasons’.

She now faces a tribunal with the official regulator, the Teaching Regulation Agency.

Ballard has chosen not to attend her misconduct hearing, instead nominating a union representative to appear for her.

Jim Olphert, for the TRA, said Ballard has admitted all the facts against her.

The tribunal heard that Ballard started working as the principal at Ryde Academy in September 2015, and concerns about her behaviour were first raised in March 2024.

The panel heard Ballard changed the school term dates to accommodate her personal holiday arrangements.

She changed the dates at the end of Autumn 2023 to accommodate a cruise trip she went on, and she also changed the dates of the start of the Spring term 2024 for a cruise trip, it was alleged.

The misconduct hearing was also told that Ballard did not go to school on an inset day because she was still travelling as part of a cruise trip.

It also heard that Ballard used a Peugeot 5008, purchased for £30,000 with school funds to be used as a vehicle for school purposes, for personal trips between July 2022 and June 2024.

This included using the car for a personal family trip to France in or around Easter 2024.

She allegedly bought camping equipment, a karaoke machine and at least one TV with school funds between April 2021 and October 2022 – all items which were of limited use to the school.

The tribunal heard that Ballard did not follow the correct procedures for the banking of cash between September 2022 and June 2024. She allegedly carried cash in her handbag to take it home and then bank it.

Giving evidence, Will Doyle, current principal of the school and Ballard’s successor, said she created a ‘toxic culture of fear’ which left staff too scared to raise concerns.

Doyle said her behaviour reached a ‘tipping point’ at a four-hour-long meeting of the school’s senior leadership team on March 28, 2024.

Doyle, who was initially ‘excited’ to work with Mrs Ballard, said during a meeting about redundancies that she swore.

‘To have someone use that language, to then be told I might be made redundant was devastating for me,’ he said.

Doyle also recalled the ‘significant impact’ changing school term dates at the end of 2023 to 2024, to accommodate Ballard’s cruise, had on attendance figures.

Parents and staff had already booked holidays for Christmas and families ‘voted with their feet’, he said. Asked why he did not raise concerns sooner, Doyle said he was ‘scared for the repercussions’.

In September 2024, a letter was sent to parents, signed by regional education director Karl Sampson, confirming Ballard had ‘retired’ after 30 years in education.

During this time, vice principal Will Doyle oversaw the academy under the guise of ‘head of school’, before being appointed principal in October last year.

The tribunal continues.

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