ABSTRACT
School governors are creatures of the law in that their powers and duties are largely derived from various statutes. The main statutes which regulate the powers and duties of school governors are the Education Act 1981, Education Act 1986, the Education Reform Act 1988 and, to a lesser extent, the Education Act 1944. However, some legal jargon can be explained relatively simply. School governors are also affected by legal rules contained in Statutory Instruments. The Regulations cover various categories of people who are disqualified from sitting as school governors. The Education Regulations are an example of legislation which is very important for all school governors, and which has been subject to frequent change. The final source of legal rules of which governing bodies should be aware is caselaw, the decisions of judges in cases coming before the courts, which lay down principles of law which must then be followed.
