Mum's defiant five word response as she hits back at term-time holiday critics

Leanne Bray has conscionable arrived backmost successful the UK aft jetting disconnected connected an unauthorised household vacation to Benidorm, days aft children went backmost to schoolhouse successful September

A defiant mum-of-five has deed backmost astatine critics aft she defied caller government fines by whisking her children distant for a term-time holiday.

Leanne Bray, from Chelmsley Wood, Solihull, explained that off-peak getaways were a necessity owed to her kids' peculiar needs. Freshly backmost successful England aft jetting disconnected to Benidorm soon aft schools kicked disconnected the autumn term, Leanne's travel flouted freshly-tightened rules that person hiked penalties from £60 to £80 for each child, with parents perchance footing the measure doubly over.

Undeterred, Leanne confidently said she'll proceed to instrumentality term-time getaways to protestation against what she regards arsenic "outdated" Department for Education policies. Firing backmost astatine critics, she insists she has zero remorse astir her enactment of defiance and truthful far, hasn't been slapped with a fine.

"We've had nary fines arsenic of yet, but I'm not holding my breath," she told Birmingham Live. "Sometimes it tin instrumentality the schoolhouse a fewer weeks to drawback up. I expect to get a fine, but I volition combat it."

Earlier successful the year, Leanne had already stood her crushed successful tribunal erstwhile Solihull Council prosecuted her for escaping to Lanzarote during schoolhouse days successful February. The lawsuit was 1 of the driving factors successful Leanne's determination to home-school her 4 youngest children.

Leanne has declared that accrued fines won't halt her from taking her kids retired of schoolhouse for holidays, arsenic she said: "I've 4 children who are home-schooled, and if they get a interruption past truthful should my daughter." Her stance garnered mixed reactions from BirminghamLive readers aft her communicative was shared. Addressing the critics, Leanne said: "There's ever going to beryllium radical who disagree with me."

She continued to situation the system, adding: "The bulk of the rules I volition follow, but successful my sentiment immoderate are tedious, outdated and unrealistic. Personally, I privation my household to beryllium capable to bask themselves from clip to clip truthful I person nary regrets."

Leanne emphasised her parental rights, saying: "They're my children and if I privation to instrumentality them distant truthful they tin larn astir caller cultures, past I person a close to bash so. I deliberation that's much beneficial to my children than sitting successful a schoolroom wherever they're not getting the enactment they request anyhow."

Undeterred by imaginable ineligible action, she revealed: "We're already looking astatine bookings for adjacent twelvemonth - these changes won't halt me. Once I deed my 3rd strike, I'll beryllium sent consecutive to court, but I'm not afraid." Leanne concluded with a telephone to action: "I deliberation much radical request to basal up for what they judge in. To me, household clip is truthful important and the much radical that propulsion the boundaries, the much they'll person to look astatine changing the rules."

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has sounded the alarm implicit an "absence epidemic" successful England's schools, accusing immoderate parents of being excessively laid-back astir letting their children miss schoolhouse for trivial reasons specified arsenic holidays, birthdays, oregon adjacent a insignificant cold. In a bid to tackle the issue, the Department for Education has introduced a strict punishment strategy for truancy, with parents facing an £80 good if paid wrong 21 days, expanding to £160 if not settled connected time, starting from this world year.