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Mum fined for taking kids on holiday has 'no choice but to take drastic action'

A mother was fined 480 for taking her children on holiday during term time, and has turned to home-schooling them until May to avoid further fines or warrant criminal investigation

[She took matters into her own hands to avoid action against her]

She took matters into her own hands to avoid action against her

A mum-of-three has resorted to home-schooling after being fined 480 at the start of 2025 for taking her children to Portugal during term-time.

Jewellery designer Rachel Smith, 43, and her husband Stuart Smith, 41, who runs Airbnb properties, took their children on holiday.

The family - complete with their three children - booked two breaks which involved missing four days of the school term. The parents were fined for the Portugal trip for missing a week of school.

Instead of dealing with further fines, the couple withdrew their children from school for a term to teach them at home and go on the holidays. They plan to reregister them so they can go back in May.

[Rachel and her children]

Rachel and her children

Rachel told The Mirror: It's so that we can go on a couple of affordable holidays. Wed be missing a total of four days off school this term. The family's upcoming holidays is an overnight trip to Legoland and the other an Easter holiday to Lanzarote.

Going to Legoland for one night during term time will cost 400, but going in the Easter holidays is 700. By going to Portugal in January we managed to get flights for just 20 per person. You can never get flights for anything like that in the school holidays."

Rachel added: I think the government has been very heavy-handed it feels like a dictatorship. How should the government be allowed to be in control of your children? The government is choosing to make it so that people cant have a holiday.

[She's home-schooling until May]

She's home-schooling until May

I dont think holidays are a luxury they are so important for the wellbeing of the family. And the kids learn so much from having these experiences that we couldnt afford to do at other times.

Rachel is not alone in her views, as a petition urging the government to allow families to take their children on term-time holidays for up to 10 days a year, which has gathered 100,000 signatures. B

acking the petition, Rachel said: I understand that the government needs to crack down on truancy, but we are just wanting to give our kids educational experiences. There shouldnt be a one-size fits all approach.

To register her children for school in May, Rachel has to first reapply and wait for a decision, which can take up to three weeks.

In order to homeschool, I had to write a letter saying I was deregistering them, she says.

I was told that the school couldnt guarantee that there would be places available when they tried to come back.

But its a small school and not oversubscribed, so we should be ok.

Meanwhile, she says homeschooling has made life far more flexible.

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