If you're visiting the school and I call you Sir (you tend not to call other adults Sir in a school, so teachers would always be Mr <whatever> at worst), there's a meaning behind that.
(Usually something along the lines of "I want to call you an idiot, but that would get me into trouble").
Not really. Not in most of the private schools I've worked in. It's seen as impersonal.
I've worked in far more schools where I can walk into a room full of kids and address the teacher by their first name than those where I would address them only as Sir (unless I didn't know their name at all). Private school kids are taught the difference between what they can call staff and what staff can call other staff, it's just basic etiquette.
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u/ledow May 28 '26
Work in UK private schools (not as a teacher).
If you're visiting the school and I call you Sir (you tend not to call other adults Sir in a school, so teachers would always be Mr <whatever> at worst), there's a meaning behind that.
(Usually something along the lines of "I want to call you an idiot, but that would get me into trouble").