This week, the NQT forums on The TES website are going Christmas crazy. You have been chatting about festive lessons, nativity plays and how frazzled you feel in the run-up to Christmas.

- If you are doing last-minute lesson planning, take a look at the maths Christmas activities thread (www.tes.co.ukxmasmaths). You will be amazed at the ingenuity on display here.

- Have you been asked to come up with festive goodies to sell at the school Christmas fayre? You will find inspiration at www.tes.co.ukxmasfayre, where teachers get their pupils making baubles, festive biscuits and calendars decorated with pasta shells.

- Pushy parents and nativity plays - it’s a heady mixture and an NQT’s festive nightmare. Karentree’s story might ring a few bells: “I’ve had requests for their daughters to be angels or please can their son have a speaking part.” So how do you deal with parents eager to see their little darlings centre stage? Milliebear advises that it’s best to be honest: “Tell them kids with good memories and loud voices get speaking parts. Everything else is names from a hat.” www.tes.co.uknativityplays

- For many of the NQTs chatting on our forums Christmas can’t come soon enough. They are feeling frazzled, frustrated at having no social life and have had constant colds.

Lillipad started the topic “feeling frazzled” (www.tes.co.ukfrazzled) by explaining “I do absolutely love the job, I just desperately need a holiday and also an extra week to do a massive load of planning so I don’t have to worry about it when I get home from school!”

- Finally, watch out at this year’s staff Christmas party. Apparently Debretts, the authority on social manners and etiquette, has advised against “full festive kissing on the lips” under the mistletoe because of the danger of swine flu. So it looks like it’s going to be air kissing for us all this year. www.tes.co.ukmistletoe

For advice on all things related to your induction year from teacher trainer James Williams go to www.tes.co.uknqtforum.