Headteacher from TV's Educating Cardiff is banned from the profession after changing term times to fit her luxury cruise holidays

Published: 11:47, 3 July 2026 | Updated: 11:52, 3 July 2026 A headteacher who starred on Channel 4's Educating Cardiff has been banned from teaching after changing school term dates to go on luxury cruise holidays. Joy Ballard was struck off after a tribunal was told that she also used a school car for a personal trip to France and bought a karaoke machine with school funds. Ballard, 59, appeared on the show in 2015 while head of Willows High School in Cardiff. Shortly afterwards she left to become principal of Ryde Academy, later renamed Lift Ryde, on the Isle of Wight.  The Teaching Regulation Agency watchdog found that while employed on the island, she changed term dates in autumn 2023 and spring 2024 to fit around a cruise. She also did not go to school on an inset day in January 2024 because she was still on a cruise trip and used a Peugeot 5008, bought for £30,000 with school funds, for personal trips including a trip to France. The vehicle had been purchased to transport children to alternative education placements and reduce the school's taxi bills. The watchdog concluded that she had knowingly altered the calendar for her own benefit and that her actions were dishonest and 'lacked integrity'. Joy Ballard, a headteacher who appeared on Channel 4 documentary series Educating Cardiff, has been banned from teaching for at least two years  Mrs Ballard was headteacher of Lift Ryde, formerly Ryde Academy, for nearly a decade before her sudden exit Panel chair Richard Young said: 'The panel considered that Mrs Ballard's actions were deliberate, in that she made a choice to use the car for personal reasons, to amend the term dates, to absent herself from parts of inset days, to purchase equipment of limited benefit to the school and to not follow appropriate cash handling procedures. 'There was no evidence to suggest that Mrs Ballard was acting under extreme duress.' Ballard also bought camping equipment, a karaoke machine and a TV with school funds between April 2021 and October 2022. Ballard admitted that the camping scheme had been a 'waste of taxpayer's money', while a karaoke machine was used just once. The panel found that the equipment was of limited benefit to the school, although it accepted that the purchases had originally been made for genuine purposes and were not dishonest. Concerns were also raised about the way Ballard handled cash collected during fundraising and non-uniform days. Instead of securing funds in a safe, Ballard admitted that cash was sometimes kept in her handbag or under her desk. The panel described the school's banking practices as 'chaotic', although it found no evidence that Ballard had taken any funds for herself. Mr Young said: '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 TRA found that Ballard had failed to demonstrate full insight into her behaviour and warned there remained a risk of repetition. Colleagues and parents presented dozens of character references describing Ballard as compassionate, inspirational and committed to disadvantaged children. However, the panel said her actions had been 'deliberate', adding: 'Mrs Ballard did not appear to have reflected on the bigger picture, shown by the conduct underpinning the allegations, and appeared at times to blame others, or did not unequivocally accept the panel's findings.' Ballard admitted the allegations and admitted that she was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. Civil servant Marc Cavey, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, issued Ballard with a prohibition order banning her from teaching indefinitely. He said: 'It is necessary to impose a prohibition order in order to maintain public confidence in the profession.' In September 2024, a letter was sent to parents, signed by regional education director Karl Sampson, confirming Mrs Ballard had 'retired' after 30 years in education. It said: 'On behalf of everyone at Ryde and Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) more widely, I'd like to thank Mrs Ballard for her commitment to the school and everything that has been achieved under her leadership. 'We wish her all the best for the future and a happy retirement.' Educating Cardiff was an eight-part documentary series that was the fourth installment of Channel 4's Educating series - following Educating Essex and Educating Yorkshire and Educating the East End. Under the order, Ballard cannot reapply to the profession for at least two years and has 28 days to appeal. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. 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