Schools relax term time holiday rules as Platt case goes to the Supreme Court 

CREDIT: This story was first seen in The Telegraph
Term-time holidays are now being allowed by schools in many parts of the country after councils changed their policy fining parents, The Telegraph reports.
The government has cracked down on unauthorised absence at schools, despite parents’ complaints that travelling during the academic holidays is vastly more expensive than in term time.
But last year the High Court ruled that it is not illegal to remove a child from school as long as they had a good attendance record.
The case, involving Isle of Wight father Jon Platt who refused to pay a £120 fine, will reach the Supreme Court this week.
An investigation by the BBC found that 35 English councils have changed their policy in wake of the High Court decision.
A further five are reviewing their policy, while 28 have withdrawn fines that were previously levied on parents.
In total, 108 councils gave information about their policy on term time holidays.
The number of fines issued by local councils varied to a large degree. In Suffolk, 6,008 fines were issued in the 2015-16 school year.
In contract, North Tyneside issued 108 in the same period, while Richmond upon Thames issues none at all.
The government maintains that missing even a few days of school is detrimental to a child’s education.
The DfE published research last year which indicated that every day missed reduced the chances of a pupil achieving five GCSEs at grade A-C.
After the High Court ruled in his favour, Mr Platt said he was “hugely relieved”.
“I know that there was an awful lot riding on this – not just for me but for hundreds of other parents,” he said.
But Isle of Wight council was later granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court against the judgement.
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