Sometimes, teachers are confused about how children and students should address them. Some believe that to encourage relationships, first names are acceptable. ‘Henry’ rather than ‘Mr Gray’ is acceptable.

Under no circumstances would I endorse this approach. Teachers are adults, students in primary and secondary schools in a learning relationship under their guidance. Respectful address demands that teachers are addressed as Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms.

Surnames can be hard to pronounce. Teachers with complex or indecipherable surnames often ask students to use their Christian names instead. If this is done, I’d strongly suggest the Christian name be preceded by Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms. Another method might be to have children use the first letter of hard-to-pronounce surnames. In that case, it would be Mr M, Ms S, etc.

Students in secondary schools tend to refer to teachers as “Sir”, “Miss”, or “Ms”. That may be a preference, but I recommend using the abovementioned names. That personalises and individualises recognition and address of staff members.

Appropriate address of teachers by students helps when it comes to the establishment of a respectful relationship. Similarly, those relationships are enhanced if teachers take the time and make an effort to learn and use student names when speaking to their learning clientele.