Being newish I would not push to failure yet especially not squats without a spotter/bar catchers. You would do normal squats with a barbell behind your neck but unless you've got squat stands that may pose a problem. You could try front squats, plenty of videos on the net showing how.

In conclusion, start light, get used to the movement, keep good form. Once you've got it, you will build up quickly.

One thing you could do if you want to do higher reps or bodyweight stuff is alternate a weights (heavy) wotrkout and a bodyweight workout (light). So you would still train on mon, wed and fri but you would alternate between the two workouts. This would help you increase your muscular endurance as well. Its up to you really.