A CHANNEL 4 star headteacher moved term times to go on luxury cruises, a hearing was told.
Joy Ballard, who found fame on Educating Cardiff, is also accused of bagging a karaoke machine with school funds.
And, she is alleged to have taken her work car on a personal jaunt to France, a misconduct panel heard.
The TV headteacher is said to have created a “toxic culture of fear” among staff to get away with her alleged antics.
Mrs 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.
However, suspicions concerning her conduct came to light in 2024 after a particularly tense staff meeting.
An investigation was launched and she stepped back from her role, with the reason for her departure cited as “personal reasons”.
She now faces a tribunal with the official regulator, the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA).
The headteacher has not attended the hearings and is being represented.
Mrs Ballard is accused of altering the dates at the end of Autumn 2023 to accommodate a cruise trip she went on.
She also changed the dates of the start of the Spring term 2024 for a cruise trip, it is alleged.
The misconduct hearing was told the headteacher failed to turn up on an inset day, in January 2024, because she was still travelling as part of a cruise trip.
The tribunal heard that Mrs Ballard used a Peugeot 5008 – bought with school funds to be a work car – on trips across a two-year period.
She also allegedly bought camping equipment, a karaoke machine and at least one TV with school funds between April 2021 and October 2022.
The tribunal heard the headteacher didn’t follow the correct protocol for logging the expenses across a two-year period.
Jim Olphert, for the TRA, said Mrs Ballard has admitted all the facts against her.
Giving evidence, Will Doyle, current principal of the school and Mrs Ballard’s successor, said she created a “toxic culture of fear”.
Mr Doyle said the situation reached a “tipping point” at a four-hour long meeting in March 2024 regarding redundancies.
He claimed the headteacher swore when discussing the “devastating” possibility of losing his job.
Mr Doyle told the hearing parents eventually “voted with their feet” after term dates had been changed as it disrupted their own pre-booked holiday plans.
Asked why he did not raise concerns sooner, Mr Doyle said he was “scared for the repercussions”.
When Mrs Ballard left a note was sent to parents which read: “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.”
Vice-principal Mr Doyle took over running operations and was appointed principal last year.
Educating Cardiff was an eight-part documentary series that was the fourth part of Channel 4’s Educating series – following Educating Essex, Educating Yorkshire and Educating the East End.
The tribunal continues.
