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With family holiday costs soaring as soon as the summer school holiday starts, it seems more and more of us are choosing to take our children out of school during term to bag a bargain holiday.
Official statistics have revealed 4.5 million school days are missed every year as children are taken out of lessons for family holidays. This makes it the second most common reason for missing school, next to sickness.
Despite some fines for missed school topping £100, 29 per cent of us take children out of lessons without permission to enjoy a cheaper holiday.
During the spring term of this year, 1,101,135 school days were missed in total, with over 62,000 primary and secondary pupils missing classes without permission during an average day.
'Term-time holidays are all too often seen as the rule when it should be the exception and so we back head teachers in taking a strong stance against allowing them,' says schools minister Nick Gibb.
'Over the coming months we will be giving stronger powers to schools to send a clear message to pupils and parents that persistent absence is unacceptable.'
Have you taken your children out of school to save pennies on a holiday?