School absences for holidays during term time increased by more than 800-per cent during the 2021-2022 academic year.

More than 350-thousand days were missed by primary pupils for holidays - up from 38-thousand-600 in the previous academic year.

The report by Tusla also shows that in secondary schools, 12-thousand days were missed due to family holidays during term time, up from 1,259 days during the 2020-2021 year.

Helen is a primary school teacher and principal in Cork.

She's strongly advising parents against planning any holidays for September...