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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.
