I’m newly qualified, and I keep having to take time off because I’ve had so many bugs and attacks of flu. I remember that absence could affect my induction year, so that I might have to do extra time next year. Is this right, and who decides?

Don’t worry. You will only have to have your induction period extended if you’ve had 30 days’ absence. The local education authority, which acts as your appropriate body, makes the decision about whether to grant extensions, taking into account all points of view. There have been situations where NQTs have had a lot of absence and as a result are not meeting the standards. Unless they have had more than 30 days off, they cannot be granted an extension and so risk failing induction - and never being able to teach again.

Teaching is stressful and physically demanding. Illness plagues you in your first year - with rounds of sore throats, coughs and colds. Ask your doctor to check out reasons for your low resistance.

When you’re busy, it is easy to neglect yourself. Make sure you get enough sleep. Don’t skip meals. Snack on nutritious, high-energy foods such as bananas rather than chocolate. Get organised at weekends so that you have food to last the week. Watch your caffeine and biscuit intake - the staple diet of staffrooms! Water and fruit will make you feel much better.

Take exercise and get fresh air during the day. Doing exercise once a week helps - join a class, play tennis. Teaching makes you feel tired but exercise will give you more energy and help you sleep. You’ll find that you function better all round if you are fit. Take vitamin supplements to help your body fight the viruses that are brought into school.

I’ve had a look on the Teacher Training Agency’s website and it seems to be saying that if I complete two terms in a school in Wales before September 2003 then I am exempt from induction. As there is no induction year in Wales starting in September 2002, who recommends to whom that I pass the year?

Wales is having a pilot induction in 2002-2003 in which the school where you work may be involved, but there is no further gatepost for you to cross if you work there from September. No one assesses you. If you want to work in England in the future your teaching in Wales will be recognised as being equivalent to induction, as long as you do at least two terms before September 2003.