Whitney Ainscough jetted off on two family holidays with her partner and three children, Cora Bentley, 12, Addison Squires, seven, and Adley Christopher, three, during term time last year.
The family splashed out £5,000 on a trip to Cyprus in June 2024 and £8,000 for their Zante holiday in July 2024 and her kids missed five days of school for each trip.
The social media influencer known as @itsmebadmom on TikTok was ‘fuming’ when she received a £60 fine in the post.
The 31-year-old says she paid the fine for her first holiday but on January 17 opened a letter that she assumed was a second fine, only to find she might be facing a criminal record for taking her children out of school.
The shocked mum-of-three took to social media and shared the news of the letter with her 440,000 TikTok followers.
Footage shows Whitney reading the letter saying she is ‘flabbergasted’ that she has received a single justice procedure notice outlining she is being charged under Section 444 (1) of the Education Act 1996.
Section 444 (1) of the Education Act 1996 states that if a child of compulsory school age who is a registered pupil at a school fails to attend regularly at school, his parent is guilty of an offence.
A person charged with the offence has to prove they had a ‘reasonable justification’ for their child’s failure to attend regularly at the school.
However Whitney remains defiant in the face of the threats, claiming she does not want to leave them at home and so they will miss school again to go to Paris this week.
Whitney, from Rotherham in South Yorkshire, said: “I was literally just about to take my kids to school and I’d quickly opened it.
“Obviously I couldn’t read it properly because I had to take the kids to school so I put it down a minute, I only scanned through it and I was like what.
“I took my kids to school, came back and read the letter. The first thing I did straight away was make a video. I was like, I’m fuming, what on earth?
“I was expecting that I may get another fine but I’d not heard anything and it had been months. I was absolutely furious, fuming.
“To be honest with you, it would absolutely make me laugh. How could you even threaten somebody with jail for taking their kids on holiday.
“I just can’t understand the logic of it. These are my children, they are not the government’s children.
“What do you want me to do? Leave my kids at home while I go off on fancy holidays with my partner? No. I’m sure social services would be getting involved at that point.
“I take my kids on a nice holiday to see the world and you get penalised for it. It’s absolutely disgusting.
“Whenever we do go [on holiday] I would say they’re all educational. When we went in July to Zante, we booked a private boat and we went to go and see a shipwreck, we went to Turtle Island.
“I want them to see more of the world and yes school is educational and whatever else and they need education. But they also need to see more of the world.
“It frustrates me.”
She said she has returned the letter to the council explaining her reasons for taking Cora out of school.
Whitney said she took her children out of school during term time because one of her sons has additional needs and struggles to cope in busy environments.
Although she said she has never taken her children on holiday during term time before these trips, she is taking them out again to go to Paris this weekend.
Whitney said: “My next step is, I’ve sent the letter back, saying I am guilty of taking Cora out of school which I’m not going to deny.
“I’m not going to lie, I have the money to go on holiday whenever I want. I could go in the six-week holidays.
“It’s nothing to do with the money, it’s to do with how busy things are. I have a child with ADHD and other things. He does have additional needs.
“He struggles a lot in majorly busy times. So the six-week holidays and stuff like that, it is way too busy. That is the reasoning as to why I take them when I take them.
“It’s not because I think I’m better and I don’t need to send my kids to school.
“It’s not to do with that, it’s more to do with how my other child is going to cope while we are there and making it easier for us.
“Surely they should understand my reasons for taking them out at that time.
“I am actually taking my kids out again. I’m taking them to Paris this weekend.
“It’s my partner’s birthday at the weekend, I want my kids to come with us. I want them to be part of my life. They are my reason for my life. I want my kids to come.
“I had the option to leave them at home with family but I don’t want to. I want to take my kids to see Paris. You know, Disneyland, the Eiffel Tower.”
Whitney also said she believes she is being ‘targeted’ because of her online presence.
Rotherham Council’s Acting Assistant Director for Early Help and Business Support, Kelly White, said: “The Council cannot comment on individual cases. We take our duties relating to attendance at school very seriously and follow clear national guidance when considering school attendance.
“Working Together to Improve School Attendance (2024) states that schools, trusts, governing bodies, and local authorities must have regard to its guidance as part of their efforts to maintain high levels of school attendance.
“Schools must record whether the absence of a pupil of compulsory school age is authorised or not and the decision of whether to authorise absences is the responsibility of the Head Teacher. The guidance is clear that a leave of absence can only be granted in specific circumstances, which does not include holidays. Schools must raise unauthorised leave with the local authority, and cases are always dealt with fairly in line with the Council’s published policy.
“Rotherham is committed to ensuring that children are supported to attend school when it is open and seeks to reduce incidences of unauthorised absence as regular attendance at school significantly improves children’s attainment and wider outcomes.”
