I am completing my first term’s teaching on a contract due to end on December 31. I was told my contract would be reviewed - as long as I meet my targets - and extended until August. However, I’m anxious to know where I stand. Do I need to be given notice before my contract ends? If my contract isn’t renewed, will this term be counted towards my induction year?

I think schools that give temporary contracts for no reason other than as an insurance policy against weak teachers are acting unprofessionally and pretty stupidly in these days of recruitment and retention difficulties. Headteachers who give a year’s contract, let alone a term’s, go against the whole principle of induction being a bridge from training into teaching as a career. As you are finding, it’s very unsettling.

Your term at the school will count towards your induction year, whether you stay or leave. Don’t let your head and the induction tutor forget to send the local authority your completed assessment form at the end of term. If, in the unlikely situation that you are deemed not to have made satisfactory progress towards meeting the induction standards, you will still have served a full term of induction and need to be supported in order to make the grade by the end of your next two terms.

As I understand it, a one-term temporary contract does not require a notice period on either side. I should make it clear to your senior management team that you presume you’ll be leaving at the end of December and that you cannot rely simply on verbal assurances of a renewed contract. Start looking for other jobs and ask for references very publicly. Unless they make an offer quickly, they will lose you.

If I were you, I wouldn’t be interested in another temporary contract in your present or another school. Unless you’re covering maternity or sickness leave, there’s no reason why your contract should be temporary. Without a permanent one, it will impossible to get a mortgage or loan.

E-mail questions to susan.young@newsint.co.uk. Sara Bubb cannot enter into personal correspondence. More questions answered at www.tes.co.uk. Sara Bubb’s ‘A Newly-Qualified Teachers’ Manual: how to meet the induction standards’ is published by David Fulton, pound;15.