“Miss” and “Sir” in schools

[MyCleverGrayBear]

Been to lots of secondary school open days recently. At the state secondaries the children showing parents around etc called the teachers “Sir” and “Miss”. Is that normal? I haven’t heard this IRL ever.

(To be clear, “Miss, this parent wants to know about languages at school” vs “Mrs Jones, this parent would like to see the sports centre”. But also in a couple of classrooms there were children constantly saying “Miss, look at this, Miss, I’ve out the sign up, Miss, shall I stand here” etc and it was incredibly grating.)

And why are female teachers “Miss” and make teachers “Sir”? I felt like I was in a bad 80’s Grange Hill episode and Benny Hill was about to run in and chase me 🫣

Yes it's normal.

Because it's easier than remembering their names.

I remember doing this in school back in 2005 so it’s not new

It’s normal. Teachers whose Mrs are also called Miss

Sounds better than 'Babs' and 'Trev'.

In Ireland and normal in our school anyway!

Yes I don't like either. Mrs and Mr would do nicely or call them by their first name.

Is it too much to expect children to remember their teachers’ names?

It was like that when I was at school in the 80s and it was like that when my kids were at school in the 2010's and it's still like this in the secondary schools that I go into for my work now.
Nothing odd about it.

I don't think it's new either.
We didn't do it at our school when I was at school. We called then Mr or Mrs etc etc
But I know other schools did sir and miss. It sounds weird to me cos we never did it

Not like that at any school I’ve been at (as a child or parent)

Did you not go to school in the UK? Entirely normal, saves saying a few extra syllables.

I agree it's normal. DS left school in the summer and the whole time at secondary it was Sir or Miss when talking to the teacher. They only used the actual names Mr X, Mrs Y etc when they were talking to someone else about the teacher.

My kids call their teachers by their first names.

Completely normal and I went to school in the 80s in Scotland

So my sister in law with a PhD in physics would be “Miss” and my (much younger) brother would be “Sir”. Bloody hell.

I find this weird as well. I'm Scottish and we called our teachers by their title and surname (Mr Gray, Miss Brodie, Dr McGonagall). I thought it was a TV thing that the kids on Grange Hill called their teachers Miss and Sir and had my mind blown when my kids started secondary school in England.

I thought everybody did this. They definitely did in my school. And when I was teaching I was called Miss all the time.

Born and raised in the UK. As are my children.

I went to two different secondary schools in the 80s and we addressed them as Miss and Sir.

When talking to others about the teachers, we referred to them as Mr or Mrs X.

Normal at my kids secondary. Unfortunately! FWIW they don’t seem to consider the “miss” to be any less fearsome or worthy of respect than the “sir” but I have ensured that I take the piss out of the naming convention to the teens.
They do refer to the teachers by their names sometimes.
One is now at 6th form college and it’s all first names there which is different again.

It wasn't acceptable in our school in the 80s, it was always "Mrs/Miss/Mr/Sister etc. Surname". I agree "Miss" and "Sir" sound very "Grange Hill" to me too. But then, I am old. 👵

Really? What country are you in and is it primary or secondary school?

Yes, this is what kids called teachers decades ago and what they still call them now. I’m surprised you are surprised by this.

Bit of history - teachers were required to be single until 1944. So before then, all female teachers were ‘Miss.’ The word Miss is short for Mistress, which has all manner of connotations, but one of them was the female version of Master, ie an expert in their trade. So a male teacher would be a schoolmaster, and a female one a schoolmistress.

Completely normal and has been the same in every school I've taught in for the past 20 years...

Are you in the UK?