As a freelance English teacher in the Netherlands, no two days are the same for me. Over the course of a week, I travel to six schools and see 250 children aged from 10 to 21, in primary and high schools, state and private schools.

An average day will see me in two schools and I’ll often teach students privately in the afternoon and get home to have Skype calls with parents or emails from kids with questions about their projects or exam preparation.

My daily teaching is made more complex because the government provides “key guidelines” about the vocabulary, grammar, reading and speaking skills children should reach at certain ages. But the national curriculum does not fit a whole class, and does not meet the needs of children who are dyslexic, highly gifted, slow at learning or who might have other learning needs.

A big part of my job is juggling the requirements of these kids into the whole class, so that everyone is getting the material they need at the right level and some time with me.

Sally Edwards is a freelance English teacher in The Hague, the Netherlands