“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 🫣

I don't like it either. it's laziness not to learn your teachers' names properly

30 teachers at a time
How so?
Even with supply teachers...

I think you're also reading too much meaning into the terms. As they are used 'Sir' is no more or less respectful than 'Miss' - it's just useful shorthand

Not like that at any school I’ve been at (as a child or parent)
Fair enough, but I don't know any different. I'm nearly 60 and I remember my mum telling a tale about when I first went to primary school and that was the first time I had any really influences outside the family and I would challenge mum by saying things like ' well, Miss says......(whatever I was arguing about)

When I'm working with teens now and helping them through their problems I get them to talk about what happened in school and they say ' well miss said I couldn't leave the room and it's not fair because the other day sir said........)
Maybe it's regional but I've gone back 55 years to the present day it's just something accepted where I live.

Totally normal, same in DS’s primary school. “Miss said we have spelling test on Friday. Miss said you have to sign the school trip form by Monday”.

He knows her name, but miss is just what she is called in school (like I am mum, but he obviously knows that isn’t my actual given name).

But in this instance the children had been allocated to helping in a particular department and it’s not a huge school. The teachers name is on a lanyard round their neck. It sounded so lazy.

I was at school in the 80’s/90’s. The very idea of calling my female teachers “Miss” and the bemusement and irritation they would have responded with makes me wince a bit.

My oldest is in a large secondary. If he doesn’t know a teachers name he says “excuse me, sorry, I don’t know your name!” and waits to be told. And tries to remember it!

When I was a secondary we had 2 teachers who were married so Mr and Mrs Same-name.
There was also a supply teacher with the same surname. She was about 100 years old (ok slightly exaggerating there but she was way beyond retirement age) and she was known as Granny Name 😂
Literally everyone called her that - staff and students.
Lovely lady. I assume now long gone 🙁

Normal. But I try to train my pupils to call me by name, as I think it’s more polite. I don’t call them “boy” or “child”, I call them by their name, and would like to be shown the same respect.

And furthermore, it was like that when I went to school in the 60s!

In the very inner inner-city school I worked at every member of staff was
Meeeeeez!
(Very high-pitched.)

Even the blokes, although occasionally they were

Meeee...ster?

Teacher here. Always called 'Miss' (I'd be fine with first names but not school policy) but frequently get emails with 'Hi Mrs' or 'thanks Mrs'. Never a surname 🤣

It's always been miss and sir. What country do you live in?

I imagine you’ve not heard it as you’ve been In Primary school world where it is one class and one teacher. And even substitute teachers are generally fairly regular.

Once you get to secondary it’s a whirlwind of names for your kid to remember. Miss or Sir keeps them polite whilst not having the pressure of knowing all the names. They can hardly call them “thingy” can they?

Perfectly normal in “big school land”.

Yeah, this is totally normal. I never expected any different when I was teaching.

It's so annoying for the kids when teachers demand their full name be used at all times. Unnecessary, too.

'Miss' is not a derogatory term.

Yes. Totally normal

Kids at school have enough to be dealing with. There's no need to add to their stress by insisting they remember and address every roving supply teacher they pass in the hall with their correct marital status and surname.

I was at school in south Yorkshire 1995-2002. Always miss and sir. It wasn't because we didn't remember names! It was just the way of things. We used miss and sir interchangeably with Mr Jones/ Mrs Smith etc.

It doesn't feel disrespectful if you're used to it. I remember in my final year at uni rounding a corner in a corridor and nearly bumping into one of the first years at my college (so I faintly knew him but not well) and he said 'sorry miss!'
😬 made me feel very old!

Yes. This is it I think. It didn’t sound respectful at all. Just a one size fits all for the teachers. I don’t think parents would like it if teachers said “oh way too many children to learn their names so I call them “boy” or “girl”

As someone has said the using of "Miss" will be from the days when married women weren't allowed to teach.
Very old fashioned now - but as I said upthread it's pretty much a job title.

Actually the teens I work with sometimes forget to call me by first name and call me miss, even though I'm not a teacher!

Is it too much to expect children to remember their teachers’ names?
Of course the kids know their teachers names! It's just a shorthand way of speaking to them or getting their attention.
It's not a big deal!

Ours do Sir and Madam, which feels more equivalent

My oldest is in a large secondary. If he doesn’t know a teachers name he says “excuse me, sorry, I don’t know your name!” and waits to be told. And tries to remember it!
Yeah right

Too many names to remember plus people whose names they don't even know not just their own teachers.

Absolutely normal.