Some schools make a fuss of staff achievements in similar ways to the pupils’. Others don’t bother. I met someone from a primary school whose colleague had featured on a Teachers TV programme and he hadn’t even bothered to watch it.

Some local authorities make a big fuss of people when they pass their induction year. It was marvellous to see a full hall with so many smiling faces at the awards ceremony for Chartered London Teachers recently.

But you can get your praise from elsewhere. The General Teaching Council’s Teacher Learning Academy (TLA) offers professional recognition for your learning. You can work on projects individually or collaboratively, in your own school or across institutions, and you’re judged by other teachers, who have been trained to do this.

With many PGCEs now carrying Master’s level credits, consider enrolling for a Master of Arts. Some courses, like the Master of Teaching, are geared towards new teachers. As well as intellectual stimulation, most MAs require you to do some research in school.

One teacher doing an MA uses talk partners as a way of developing learning, especially those who speak English as an additional language, but she is investigating what types of pairing work best: single sex, boygirl, ability or ones based on friendship.

There are lots of things you know and can do through being fresh from training that are useful to colleagues. It’ll help you on your way towards crossing the threshold onto the upper pay scale because one of the standards is to “contribute to the professional development of colleagues”. And there are few people more grateful for help than busy people working in schools.

www.clt.ac.uk

www.gtce.org.uk

Sara Bubb is an educational consultant specialising in induction. She regularly answers questions on our forums at www.tes.co.ukstaffroomnew_teachers.