Would Prep School using Christian names for staff put you off?

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I've just heard that the school DC went to years ago has stopped doing this after 60+ years. We didn't think anything of it at the time, just what the school did. Never caused any problems, and it was part of the school's history of how it was formed.

Apparently the school have decided that it puts parents off choosing the school. It has an excellent reputation locally.
What do you think? Would it put you off? I think it's a bit of a shame to change the history of the school personally. But hey-ho.

I would actively welcome it. I still cringe when I speak to teachers as a parent and have to call or refer to them as Mr/Mrs/Miss whatever, it’s so unnatural and weird to me. I also have an issue with female teachers having to basically disclose their marital status whereas the men don’t.

My children went to a school where they called teachers by their Christian name, it worked so well despite my initial fears, and in no way reduced the pupils respect for them. I was pretty apprehensive initially, but no complaints at all about it.

In the secondary school mine went to, all the female teachers were Ms regardless of marital status or what they might use outside school. The kids still addressed them a Miss or Sir if they didn’t know the name or just wanted a shorter option.

It used to really annoy me when the secondary teachers would default to addressing me as Mrs. KidsSurname (dc have dh’s surname) rather than asking me my name which is Ms. MySurname. I much preferred the primary school where it was all first names.

@BeanNaGealai100% this

I went to a girls grammar school where we were called by our first names, but in the 6 th form joined up with the local boys school for sociology. The boys were called by their surnames as was normal at that time . In our first lesson the teacher asked us how we would like to be known and we all agreed, by our first names. Perfect!
He then went onto say “ ok call me Nig then” 😂 not in a million years could I call him that and nor could by friends. I spent the next 2 years fudging his name whenever I had to talk to him.

I'm a teacher and I don't like my first name. I definitely do not need to hear it thousands of times a day from a bunch of 6 year olds. Internationally, I have noticed that teacher first names e.g. Ms Kayla, Mr Robert, are very commonly used in US curriculum schools.

My son is at an independent Quaker school and all teachers are referred to by their first names. It’s a good school!

It depends on culture In education generally in Finland teachers are generally highly respected children get good results no homework and teachers are on first name terms, but that is culture.

DD’s prep used first names with exception of the head teacher. I didn’t give it a second thought.

It was a small, London, family owned school. Very academic. Excellent behavioural expectations.

It would irk me, tbh. I like the professional boundary. May depend upon the school, though. My brother's school was like this, in the late 1970s, and it was a very permissive/feral environment, in general.

It’s perfectly possible to have professional boundaries whilst using first names.

I’m an academic. Most of my students address me by first name and I address them by first name. Nobody is in any doubt as to where the professional boundaries lie. I address my doctors by first name. They address me by first name. We all know where the professional boundaries lie. My dc went to a primary school where first names were used. Respect was not generally an issue.

It’s just struck me how old fashioned it is that we use titles and surnames in schools. Workplaces don’t really do this and people don’t get weird about it.

No. My private school used first names.
no one gave it a second thought

Two different schools. One a SEND school with severe needs and we use Christian names as this is easier for the children to remember

Another mainstream we use the usual Mr or Mrs XYZ.

Each school serves a different community with different needs.

I think it is a small part of the school and may be suitable for those children in that setting but cohorts change and it may not suit the school in perhaps three years time.

Yes mine are at prep schools and I wouldn’t have chosen one with that vibe. It’s important that there is a boundary imho.

I know St Anthony’s (Catholic boys’ prep school in Hampstead) used to use Christian names. That was a lovely school. No idea if they still do this though.

Yes! And particularly the way women are ‘miss’ and men are ‘sir’ in schools… if women have to be miss then men should be mister, or be sir and ma’am.

tbh when I worked in mainstream I just got ‘miss’ and even other staff would refer to each other as miss - as in ‘go and see miss’ - so it would have been nice to have a name, either first or last. When I worked in a special school I was called by my first name and it made no difference whatsoever to anything so it wouldn’t bother me choosing a school.