Strange person that I am, there are certain words that I seem to either love or loathe. At university, I felt really smart whenever I said “arbitrary” and for a while I tried to bring “immense conflagration” into as many conversations as possible. I hate “hyperbole” (ever since the humiliating tutorial where I found out I’d been pronouncing it wrongly).

Another word I really dislike is “committee”, I think because it sounds boring and that’s before you’ve even joined one. Maybe that’s why many people use an alternative. Don’t be fooled: your headteacher may call them steering groups (rodeo connotations) or working parties (socialist connotations), your school may even have a task force (SAS connotations) but they are all just glorified committees.

Joined any yet? It is usually at about this time in your probation that colleagues realise you have been around long enough to have settled in and know the score, so you may be invited to enlist.

I am not going to tell you to just say no but don’t say yes without thinking things through. Ask a few questions before making your decision.

Are you interested in or well suited to this type of work and what will your role be? How will this be of benefit to you, both as a classroom teacher and also in terms of your professional development? How will your joining this particular group be of benefit to the school? What is the expected commitment in terms of time and workload? When and how often will the committee meet? Who else is a member?

Joining too many committees is unwise but if you join the right ones you will learn a lot while broadening your contribution to the school.

I think the key is to get involved in an area that you are both well matched for and attracts you. That’s why I’m not on my school’s finance committee! Numbers bore me. There, I’ve said it. In contrast, I loved being on the language across the curriculum committee at my last school and very much enjoy being on the chaplaincy team in my current school.

What interests you? Raising attainment? Development planning? Anti-bullying? Now could be just the right time to dangle your feet in the water and find out what being a part of one of these groups would involve. May and June are nice months for new challenges because you can see that glorious summer holiday light at the end of the term three tunnel.

At first, you might want to make a short-term commitment and join the prize-giving or summer concert committee. That way, you will get to know staff you might not otherwise have the opportunity to spend much time with at the same time as committing yourself to only a few weeks of extra work. You can then reflect on the experience before making a longer-term commitment to another group.

Finally, while some of your more jaded colleagues may want to see your supplies of energy and enthusiasm as being endless, don’t forget that you still have classes to teach and a social life to lead outside school.

As with everything else, try to keep a sense of perspective and you will be fine.

Diane Allison teaches in Midlothian and is author of The Year of Living Dangerously: A Survival Guide for Probationer Teachers (City of Edinburgh Council, pound;4.99)