I did a PGCE last year and now teach IT at Greenwich College on a 0.3 job contract. Am I eligible for a golden hello?

No, I’m afraid not - because your job is not in a school. You should check what sort of PGCEyou have. Maybe yours is for the post-16 age group, in which case you won’t have qualified teacher status. But if you are qualified to teach ICT to secondary school students and you complete the induction period in a school or sixth-form college within five years of getting QTS, you will be eligible to claim the pound;4,000 golden hello from your LEA if you’re teaching ICT in a maintained school.

* I applied for a key stage 1 job, but at the interview I was asked if I would consider foundation stage. Only too keen, I agreed. I was offered the job and I accepted. I’ve since been told the position is to be the nursery teacher. I have no experience in the nursery, and I am extremely worried about my induction year. Ideally, I would like to get a key stage 1 position at another school, but where do I stand as I have already verbally accepted the job?

I feel sorry for you. You’ve been put in an uncomfortable position, but you need to solve the problem quickly before it affects you and the school too much. A verbal agreement is as legally binding as a written one. That said, a school won’t want you to be unhappy and can’t realistically do much about you reneging on it. Anyway, much of the fault lies with the school in being unclear about the post, so I think you should explain your concerns to the head as soon as possible so you both have time to resolve the situation.

You could point out that the organisation and management of children, staff and parents requires a high level of maturity, experience and skill, and you don’t have these; while you would be interested in such a position in the future, this challenge would be too much in your induction year, and would require the school to provide a great deal of support; you thought you were being interviewed for a KS1 job, and you really feel this is where your strength lies.

You could also ask if there is any possibility of teaching at key stage 1 (I’m sure teachers could be reallocated to classes). If there isn’t, say that while you really want to work at the school, you regret that you will have to look elsewhere.

* Are you a student or NQT? Email your questions to susan.young@newsint.co.uk. Sara Bubb’s A Newly Qualified Teacher’s Manual: how to meet the induction standards is published by David Fulton, pound;15