Principals say more students are missing school for holidays, with public school students now missing an average of 2.6 days of school per year for holidays.

“It’s a growing trend,” Pitsa Binnion, Principal of McKinnon Secondary College, told 3AW Breakfast.

“Taking kids out of school for … two weeks, is very problematic,” she said.

Ms Binnion said taking kids out of school for holidays in their final years of school is particularly troublesome.

“I’d probably discourage it,” she said.

Ms Binnion said teachers do their best to help students catch up, but time away from school affects more than just formal classroom performance.

She said time away from school can affect children’s friendships.

“It all changes if they’ve been away,” she said.

Press PLAY below to hear what Pitsa Binnion had to say on 3AW Breakfast.