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A midnight text warning parents to make sure their children attend school was sent out by teachers - on the day the new Football Manger game was released.

The release of the massively popular game prompted staff at Kenton School in Newcastle to post the text, ensuring pupils didn’t swap a day in the classroom for a day on the console.

Principal of the school Sarah Holmes-Carne said the texts were part of their ongoing work to improve attendance at school.

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School research into absences shows higher numbers of pupils missing school the day after popular games are released. So, with the latest instalment in the Football Manager series coming out on Friday morning, the school feared some keen gamers would prefer to practice their gaming skills rather than their classroom ones.

Mrs Holmes-Carne said: “Kenton School has had a huge focus on attendance and this is an area we have greatly improved; our school now stands above the national average.

“We have studied the data looking at pupil absences and it just so happens that one of the things that impacts on attendance is the release of a new computer game.”

She adds that “a problem across all schools seems to be lower attendance on Friday than any other day”, so the school decided to put out the message to coincide with the release of Football Manager at midnight on Thursday.

Mrs Holmes-Carne explained that co-operation with parents has been key to improving the school’s attendance record, but that didn’t stop some grumbles about the latest communication, with one recipient of the 12.13am message commenting: “They have woken everyone up with this stupid text.”

The school’s message read: ‘We are aware that a new computer game is launched at midnight tonight and this will affect the minority of students.

‘However, we expect all students to attend school as normal tomorrow. Any absence tomorrow will be unauthorised unless supported by medical evidence.’

Sports Interactive’s hit management simulation game - which allows you to take the reigns of a football team and all the responsibilities that entails - is so addictive that it has reportedly been cited in 35 cases.

And remarkably, this years’s game includes Brexit in its storyline.

Miles Jacobson, the man behind the popular game, has revealed that the Great Britain’s controversial decision to vote out of the European Union will feature in the game.

While Britain is yet to trigger Article 50, players will face different consequences of the UK leaving Europe based on various in-game scenarios.