Interpretation
2. In these Regulations—
“persistent absence” means absence for any reason or combination of reasons for a number of sessions which totals at least twenty percent of the national average of sessions available in the statistical reporting period, and “persistently absent” is construed accordingly;
“pupils” means relevant day pupils;
“school year” means the period beginning with the first school term to begin after July and ending with the beginning of the first such term to begin after the following July;
“statistical reporting period” means that part of the school year for which schools are required by the local education authority to return absence data to the Secretary of State in the school census and in this paragraph “school census” means the arrangement (known by that name) under which the Secretary of State collects information about schools each year; and
“total possible attendances” means the number produced by multiplying the number of pupils at the school by the number of school sessions in the applicable period in that year.”