School says calling male teachers ‘sir’ and female teachers ‘miss’ is sexist

Pupils calling teachers ‘Sir’ or ‘Miss’ has now been banned by a school over fears the terms are ‘misogynistic’.

Pupils at Harris Westminster Sixth Form in London were told the word ‘Sir’ evokes knights and respect, but ‘Miss’ is more suitable for young girls.

Headmaster James Handscombe said in an assembly: ‘We are changing the way that students refer to staff. No longer will it be acceptable to call us ‘Sir’ or ‘Miss’.

‘We would prefer you to call us by our names — Mr Handscombe, Ms Scott, Dr Bladon.

‘No more “Sir”, though, and no more “Miss”, [because of our commitment to a better and more equal world.’

Mr Handscombe argued the sixth form, which is operated by the Harris Federation, had ‘sank into cultural misogyny’.

‘Men get to be fearless leaders and alpha types, get credited for hustling whilst behind the backs of women it’s asked whether they deserve it, whether their career comes from good ideas or good looks, power moves or diversity lists,’ he told Schools Week.

‘I get called Sir, which, if I’m honest, I don’t find personally objectionable, I imagine Sir Lancelot (without the philandering) or Sir Galahad (without the painfully earnest purity).

‘Meanwhile Ms Scott gets called Miss which is how you refer to a small girl, or an Edwardian shop assistant.’

According to the executive principal, both school staff and students are ‘very on board’ with the new approach.

No one will be punished if they use the terms, but teachers will ‘ignore them’ until they remember the new rule.

‘I don’t think any of you are being actively woman-hating when you call “Miss” over for help with chemistry, but we’re all feeding into a view of the world that diminishes women,’ Mr Handscombe said.

‘We can’t expect old men to fix this, we’ve got to do it ourselves. I don’t think it’s going to be easy, it’s an ingrained habit, I don’t think we’ll get it right all the time but we can get there if we help each other, remember.’

The teacher then added he expected his pupils to be doing 16 hours of homework each week, and urged to stay on school grounds after the 4.30pm dismissal to complete it.

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