Preparing newly qualified teachers (NQTs) for the realities of being a classroom teacher is a challenge I’ve been working on for years and have still to conquer. We’ve tried employing NQTs at the end of the summer term and where possible we train our own teachers and they’ve been with us for a year, but it seems nothing quite prepares them for doing the whole job, and each year it becomes a rising concern. Increased workload has become something of a ‘norm’ in the teaching profession and NQTs may find themselves in a ‘sink or swim’ position quite early on; suffice to say, that doesn’t mean it should go unchallenged or unrecognised.