Helen Hopewell was a former teacher at Waterloo Road Comprehensive School. She joined the school for her first year as a qualified teacher. She came to the school with an enthusiastic, shiny-eyed approach, but Tom quickly realised that Helen has her blinkers on when it comes to the classes' reactions to her.
Helen's pupils sniffed her out as a weak teacher almost immediately and she is later given the nickname "Hopeless Hopewell". She finds herself at the end of a hate campaign led by year ten pupil Amy Porter.
At the end of her first day at Waterloo Road, Helen threw herself down a set of stairs in the school and tried to blame it on Michaela White. She then had to wear a neck brace for an episode.
Helen was always slightly removed from the Waterloo Road lifestyles and found herself not quite able to get her head round their lives.
The teachers and students soon find out that Helen had been sleeping with Max Tyler when Max tells her she cannot teach, she makes a DVD of her and Max having sex and threatens to show it to Kim Campbell and Rachel Mason, which panics Max.
Amy tells her some harsh truths and she later breaks down in class, she later admits that she paid Amy to control her classes and shows Rachel the disk. This makes Helen realise that she is a rubbish teacher and she leaves Waterloo Road.
Quotes
- "Helen Hopewell, new English teacher." (first line)
- "Never mind what my name is. I know what yours is! Michaela White, loudmouth!"
- Helen: [About Max] "I know he can be a bit severe, but, he is a pretty inspirational leader."
- Steph: "Really? So was Mussolini."
- Helen: "Max asked me to cover Miss Johnson's class, and I can't do it!"
- Rachel: "Is Amy Porter in that class?"
- Helen: "I'm not cut out for this!"
- Rachel: "Whatever happened today, you are not being driven out by a pupil."
- Helen: (Tearfully) "Will you listen to me?! I did it, alright? I gave Amy that money, and I lied about it, and I'm sorry. I really am sorry. I just wanted to do well, and it's not Amy's fault, it's mine, and it's my decision to leave." (final line)