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

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to relax the rules governing
term-time holidays.

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

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without her school's permission.

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

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the Isle of Wight council prosecuted him.

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

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However, magistrates accepted 
Mr. Platt's argument that

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even with this and other absences,

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

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and that it amounted to regular attendance.

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

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to take the girl's wider attendance 
into account

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in deciding in his favour.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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for two-week holidays.

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

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

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can damage a child's education.

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Robert Pigott, BBC news.