A mother who calls herself a ‘bad mum’ is standing by her choice to take all three of her kids on vacation during the school term, even though she was threatened with legal consequences.
Whitney Ainscough, a 31-year-old woman from Rotherham in South Yorkshire, defends her decision to travel to Euro Disney in Paris with her children as an ‘educational’ experience. She has previously faced fines for pulling her kids out of school for vacations.
Last year, Whitney went on two family trips with her partner and their three children: Cora Bentley, 12, Addison Squires, seven, and Adley Christopher, three.
Last June, the family splashed £5,000 on a trip to Cyprus shortly before shelling out a further £8,000 on a trip to Zante – causing her children to miss five days of school per trip.
The social media influencer, known as @itsmebadmom on TikTok, told followers she was ‘fuming’ after receiving a £60 fine from Cora’s school following their Cyprus holidays.
Whitney then begrudgingly paid the fine but was less than impressed when a second letter arrived saying that she may also be facing a criminal record for taking her children out of school.
The shocked mother-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.
Whitney Ainscough, 31, (pictured) from Rotherham in South Yorkshire, has insisted the trip to Euro Disney with her three children will be ‘educational’ – despite having previously been fined for taking them out of school in the past.
Last year, the mother-of-three jetted off on two family holidays with her partner, Joel Christopher (right) and three children, Cora Bentley, 12, Addison Squires, seven, and Adley Christopher, three (pictured)
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.
But the mother has insisted she will defy all threats of a criminal record, claiming she doesn’t want to leave the children at home while she jets off the Paris.
Whitney 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 the f***.
‘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.
Last June, the family splashed £5,000 on a trip to Cyprus shortly before shelling out a further £8,000 on a trip to Zante – causing her children to miss five days of school per tripÂ
A self-described ‘bad mum’ has defended her decision to take all three of her children on holiday during school term – despite being threatened with a criminal record
The shocked mum-of-three took to social media and shared the news of the letter with her 440,000 TikTok followers (pictured)
Whitney then begrudgingly paid the fine but was less than impressed when a second letter arrived saying that she may also be facing a criminal record for taking her children out of school
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
The social media influencer known as @itsmebadmom on TikTok , told followers she was ‘fuming’ after receiving a £60 fine from Cora’s school following the first 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 f***ing 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.
Whitney pictured with partner, Joel, said: ‘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’
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’
She said she has returned the letter to the council explaining her reasons for taking Cora out of school.
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
Although she said she has never taken her children on holiday during term time before these trips, she has insisted she taking them out again to go to Paris in the near future
Although she said she has never taken her children on holiday during term time before these trips, she has insisted she taking them out again to go to Paris in the near future.
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.
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
Whitney also said she believes she is being ‘targeted’ because of her online presence
‘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.
Whitney said: ‘I feel like because I’m on social media and whatever else, I feel like they’re trying to make a bit of an example out of me as well. I feel like I am being targeted.
‘They probably seem to feel that I don’t care and obviously I do care. I want my kids to achieve and do better than I ever did.
‘But my kids are not missing out on experiences in life just because they’re going to miss a few days at school. They’ll catch up.
‘I’d understand if my kids weren’t clever. My kids are clever, they’re very clever.
‘They do their work, they get on with it, they’re not naughty kids.
‘It would be absolutely ridiculous. Obviously I would take to social media. If they were to try and jail me over taking my kids on holiday, it would be a big deal on social media.
‘I’m not worried because I think it would be absolutely ridiculous and if that was the case I would pull all three children out of education and keep them at home.
Rotherham Council have been contacted for comment.
