A former headteacher who starred on the Channel 4 show Educating Cardiff is set to face a misconduct hearing following her sudden retirement.
Joy Ballard starred in the hit 2015 documentary at Willows High School, during a period where she oversaw a transformation of one of the most challenging schools in Wales.
The award-winning headteacher left shortly after the show aired in 2015 to become principal of Ryde Academy, later renamed Lift Ryde, on the Isle of Wight.
In 2024, she ‘stepped back’ her role and her picture was removed from school newsletters which were sent to parents.
In July that year, Lift Schools – the academy trust which oversees the school – said Mrs Ballard’s departure had been for ‘personal reasons’.
Two months later, a letter was sent to parents, signed by regional education director Karl Sampson, confirming Mrs Ballard had ‘retired’ following 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.’
Joy Ballard, the headteacher who appeared on Channel 4 documentary series Educating Cardiff, is now facing a misconduct hearing
Mrs Ballard left Cardiff shortly after the show aired and became principal of Lift Ryde on the Isle of Wight
Two years later, Mrs Ballard is now due to face a misconduct hearing later this week.
The hearing is due to start on Friday, February 27 and is scheduled to last until March 9.
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.
Mrs Ballard left school at 16 with no qualifications and made ends meet working first as a kennel assistant then as a cleaner while raising three young children.
In an interview with The Daily Mail in 2015, she said that as a child she ‘did not see the point in school’.
Raised in Southampton on one of the biggest council estates in the country, her father was an alcoholic, her mum was ‘a drinker’ and a lot of her childhood memories are of hanging around outside pubs while her parents sank a few inside.
She went on to study English GCSE as an adult after spotting an advert in the local paper for a college course to improve writing skills.
She went on to get a job at an adult education college which also ran sessions for disaffected children from local schools.
Mrs Ballard retired suddenly in 2024, with Lift Schools citing ‘personal reasons’ as the reason for her departure
Mrs Ballard was headteacher of Lift Ryde, formerly Ryde Academy, for nearly a decade before her sudden exit
After applying for a job as a manager at a local school, she was encouraged to apply for teacher training by the headmaster.
By 2008 she had risen through the ranks to become deputy head of Woodlands Community College in Southampton.
She then took the role at the 650-strong comprehensive in Cardiff, in one of the country’s most deprived areas.
Speaking at the time, she told The Mail: ‘When I came, we had one of the highest number of kids not in education, employment or training. Now it’s one of the lowest. That’s kids who are progressing to college and making something of their life, and to me that’s inspirational.
‘It wasn’t just the worst school in Cardiff, it was the worst school in Wales.
‘There were kids all over the place, not in the classroom. It was really them and us. I know of other people who turned up for their interview and just left when they saw the job to be done.’
Following the show’s success, she took the job at Lift Ryde, formerly named Ryde Academy.
She said she believed the school was failing to pull in the results.
The school had received a grade of ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted in 2014, before Mrs Ballard arrived.
In 2016, after one year in the job, the school had been upgraded to ‘Good’ by the inspectorate.
Lift Ryde retained that status following its most recent inspection in 2022, two years before Mrs Ballard departed.
