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16 Twitter accounts for supply teachers


8 minutes to read

Twitter is a super-useful resource for teachers. You can use it to keep up-to-date with education news, find inspiring ideas to use in your classroom and connect with other education professionals in the UK and abroad. But it can get a little overwhelming to sort what’s interesting from what’s not. So, we’ve saved you some time and gathered together our favourite Twitter accounts for supply teachers, along with the best examples of their tweets:

Teacher Toolkit (@TeacherToolkit)

Is there anywhere else we could start other than with ‘the most followed teacher on Twitter in the UK’?  Deputy Headteacher Ross Morrison McGill first entered the profession as a supply teacher in 1997 and these days combines teaching with writing a very influential blog, @TeacherToolkit. His Twitter feed is full of enough interesting articles and opinion pieces that you should find plenty to keep you engaged.

 

The Supply Teacher (@NuttySupplier)

Sharon Wood, editor and founder of The Supply Teacher, has built up a dedicated following in the past four years, and with good reason. As one of the most prominent online advocates of supply teaching, Sharon’s experiences ring a note of familiarity with anyone who’s spent time moving from school to school. Her Twitter feed is a reliable digest of her best new articles and events, invaluable resources and advice on how to make the most out of a supply career.

 

Malala Yousafzai (@MalalaFund)

As the youngest-ever Nobel Prize winner, education activist and all-round inspiration, 18-year-old Malala doesn’t need any introduction from us. The Malala Fund is her non-profit organisation, focused on empowering girls and helping them go to school – 62 million of them around the world currently don’t. The official Twitter account keeps you informed on their activities, goals and progress.

 

Education Support Partnership (@teachersupport)

The Education Support Partnership is an independent charity that aims to improve the wellbeing of the education workforce. They tweet about their policies and research, helpful reminders of the free services they provide – from their 24/7 helpline to money management counselling – as well as updates from the wider teaching community.

 

Alex Quigley (@HuntingEnglish)

An English teacher, Director of Learning and Research and blogger from York, Alex appears to be on a mission to collate and share both his own nuanced musings on teaching strategies, research, evidence-based insight and tips, as well as those gleaned from around the internet. As a result, his Twitter feed is a goldmine for others seeking inspiration.

 

Department for Education (@educationgovuk)

This is an essential account for staying up-to-date on what the governmental department with responsibility for education and children’s services in England is up to. They tweet about their own news as well as anything from other departments that’s likely to have an effect on education. Most certainly worth following.

 

Tom Bennett (@tombennett71)

As a teacher, founder of researchED, features writer for TES and Nicky Morgan’s newly-appointed ‘school behaviour tsar’, Tom works hard at making sure teachers’ voices are heard. But that’s not the only reason you should follow this ex-nightclub manager with a healthy cynicism for ‘inspirational teaching posters’. No, you should also follow him because his Twitter feed is very, very funny.

Laura McInerney (@miss_mcinerney)

As editor of Schools Week, regular Guardian columnist and ex-classroom teacher, Laura McInerney has her finger firmly on the pulse of what’s what in the world of education. She frequently takes policy-makers to task and highlights the important issues facing teachers today, in between more light-hearted moments. Smart and incisive, her predictions are often well ahead of the curve.

 

TES Resources (@tesResources)

TES is, of course, possibly the biggest online resource for teachers in the UK. It’s pleasing to see that they have a Twitter feed that’s crammed to the gills with links to useful resources, top ten lists, quizzes and plenty more besides. Their short, descriptive tweets and clever use of images mean that you can fly through the timeline without feeling like you’re getting bogged down by too much information.  Incidentally, they also have a pretty great Pinterest account too.

 

Miss Smith (@HeyMissSmith)

Jane is a welcome addition to the teacher blogger scene, reporting to us from Camden. Her school report card once called her ‘articulate and opinionated‘ and luckily for us this still stands true today. She uses Twitter to share her education-related blogs, stories, thoughts and interesting things she’s come across online.

 

BBC Education (@bbceducation)

Make sure you don’t miss a thing by checking out the BBC Education account, which tweets a steady stream of links to all the BBC’s education-related news stories. The Twitter feed itself is quite dry, but it’s the articles themselves that make this account worth a follow.

 

Risca Community Comprehensive School (@RiscaCCS)

This Welsh comprehensive was probably one of the earliest schools in the UK to discover the power of Twitter. They’re an inspiring example of how you could perhaps use social media in your own schools to keep parents, pupils and other staff up-to-date on everything from school trips to holiday dates. Another great example (sharing kids’ Lego creations and artwork) is @MsCassidysClass. Incidentally, @TeacherToolkit wrote a useful blog on his tips for using Twitter for the Classroom.

 

TED-Ed (@TED_ED)

TED-Ed exists to support teachers and spark the curiosity of learners around the world. They facilitate collaborations between educators, screenwriters and animators which has resulted in a fascinating library of creative online lessons. Their Twitter feed brings these lessons straight to your timeline, with recent videos covering everything from how to use a semicolon to what is a calorie to why do we love Breaking Bad?

 

UKEdChat (@UKEdChat)

UKEdChat tweets links to useful resources, news and articles on their website. Its main value, however, lies in the weekly group chat they’ve hosted on Twitter for the past five years. Every Thursday evening, education professionals tweet using the hashtag #ukedchat and you can follow the conversation and get involved in the discussion.

 

Key Portfolio (@keyportfolio)

Key Portfolio is your friendly Umbrella service, which adds the perks of employment to the freedom of supply work. But you already knew that bit. What you might not know is that we use Twitter to dispense contractor-focused news, views, conversation, tips, resources, blogs, prizes (sometimes chocolate-based ones) and terrible puns. It’s all designed to help you make the most of our service and get to know us a bit better.

 

Your recruitment agencies

Have you looked up your recruitment agencies on Twitter? Chances are they’re using it to keep you informed about new jobs, sharing teaching inspiration and generally reporting what they’re up to. They’re always worth a follow.

That lot should keep your timeline busy for a while! But is there anyone you can’t believe we’ve missed from our list? Tweet us your recommendations and why you think supply teachers should be following them, and maybe we’ll do a part two.

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