Jon Platt has become a leading figure 
in a campaign by parents

to relax the rules governing
term-time holidays.

He took his daughter on a family holiday 
to Disneyworld in April 2015,

without her school's permission.

After Mr. Platt refused to pay a fine of 120 GBP,

the Isle of Wight council prosecuted him.

It said he'd failed in his legal duty 
to ensure that the girl attended school regularly.

However, magistrates accepted 
Mr. Platt's argument that

even with this and other absences,

his daughter had been in class
for at least 90% of school days,

and that it amounted to regular attendance.

They've asked the High Court to decide 
whether they were right

to take the girl's wider attendance 
into account

in deciding in his favour.

Mr. Platt says that 
what's at stake at the High Court today

is parents' freedom to decide
what's best for their children.

Well, ultimately, it boils down to 
who decides what's best for their children,

is it the local authority, or is it the parents?

For me, it's that easy: it's me. 
I know what's best for my kids,

it's not ideal, I know it's never ideal 
to take your children out of school 
on a term-time holiday,

but if you can't get away...you know,

there's lots of people 
who just cannot go in holiday time.

Headteachers were once able 
to let parents take children out of school

for two-week holidays.

Regulations introduced in 2013 
now prevent them from doing so 
except in exceptional circumstances.

The Department for Education insists 
that even a day's absence

can damage a child's education.

Robert Pigott, BBC news.