I completed my BEd in July 2000 and have not started induction but I’ve been a nursery teacher for just over a year. I really want to teach in a reception class and complete my NQT year within this age range. I’ve been told I cannot do this. Can I use the career entry profile (CEP) I completed in 2000 or do I need a new one?

There are three important issues here. First, I don’t understand why you haven’t been undergoing induction as a nursery teacher: you’re breaking the law if you’ve been working in the English state sector. There’s nothing to stop you doing induction in a nursery class, unless it’s outside the maintained sector. In the private sector, induction is optional, but most schools provide it and want teachers to do it. You need to start induction as soon as you can so you get help when you most need it - in your first year.

Second, I don’t know why you’ve been told that you can’t complete induction while teaching reception; you can, and thousands do. Perhaps the perceived problem is that you have been trained for a different age phase. This doesn’t stop you undergoing induction while teaching any age group, although it might be harder to meet the standards with an unfamiliar curriculum and way of teaching. However, your year teaching the foundation stage curriculum to nursery children will have helped.

Finally, you can use your CEP, though it’s probably dated. It’ll give your induction tutor an idea of your training, your strengths, and areas for development. Put it in a professional development portfolio, along with information about your nursery teaching and what strengths and areas for development you consider you’re starting your reception class job with. You will have made progress, and this needs to be taken into account. This complete picture of what you’re like as a teacher, along with observations and discussions of your teaching, will enable you to set useful objectives with your induction tutor and help use your 10 per cent reduced timetable to meet the induction standards.

I have failed the maths skills test once already but intend to take it as many times as necessary. I am applying for jobs, but what happens if I have not passed by September?

You cannot get qualified teacher status until you have passed your course and the skills tests. You cannot start induction until you have QTS. Most schools are willing to take people on temporarily until they pass the tests. But stop this negative thinking. Book a test date now and really go for it.

Email your questions to: susan.young@newsint.co.uk