Banning pupils from addressing staff as ‘sir’ won’t help retaining teachers – MP

Banning pupils from addressing school staff as “sir” will not help with the recruitment and retention of teachers, a Tory former minister has said.

Sir Desmond Swayne’s comments come days after a leading London headteacher introduced a ban on pupils using the titles “sir” or “miss” to address teachers, arguing the terms are “deeply unequal”.

Sir Desmond said that instead of dropping both titles, schools should just replace “miss” with “ma’am”, noting “it was good enough for her late majesty”.

Education minister Nick Gibb cautioned the New Forest West MP against believing “everything that he reads in the newspapers”.

During education questions in the Commons and as Mr Gibb was grilled over the recruitment and retention of teachers, Sir Desmond said: “The abandonment of respectful address like sir, won’t help, will it?

“Apparently it’s because the female equivalent miss is considered demeaning. Might I suggest the substitution of ma’am. It was good enough for her late majesty.”

The education minister replied: “I wouldn’t believe everything that he reads in the newspapers. Behaviour in our schools is improving. We have set up behaviour hubs around the country to make sure that best practice is spread throughout the school system.”

SNP education spokeswoman Carol Monaghan later joked: “Can I say, as a former teacher, I was quite happy to be called miss and I’ve been called far worse as an MP.”

Last week, James Handscombe, executive principal at Harris Westminster Sixth Form and Harris Clapham Sixth Form, said the school would require students to call teachers by their names to avoid “cultural misogyny”.

In an assembly given to students and shared on his Twitter account, Mr Handscombe said the term “sir” was associated with powerful men while “miss” was “how you refer to a small girl, or an Edwardian shop assistant”.