Helen Amass

London

Commissioning Editor at Tes

Commissioning editor @tes, with a focus on teaching & learning and education research. Former secondary English teacher. Find me also @helen-amass.bsky.social

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Articles

Has the ‘cogsci revolution’ forgotten about emotion?

2 weeks ago | tes.com | Helen Amass

Sometimes, being anxious before an exam is a good thing. That’s according to Reinhard Pekrun, who has spent much of his career researching the interactions between emotions and achievement. “Being a little bit nervous before an exam can motivate you to invest effort to avoid failure,” Pekrun explains.
How to avoid the testing traps and make assessment better

2 months ago | tes.com | Helen Amass

Therese Hopfenbeck first became interested in the science of assessment when she was working as an English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher in Norway and happened to notice something about her students. “I started being curious about why it was that I could design a classroom-based assessment and some students would run with it and understand everything, but if I were to use the same assessment in another class, those students would struggle,” Hopfenbeck explains.
How to improve a school - and put teachers at the heart of it

Feb 12, 2025 | tes.com | Helen Amass

In a primary classroom in Bolton, a Year 4 pupil recently summed up an important part of David Hopkins’ philosophy for school improvement.
Why education research must look beyond 'what works'

Feb 20, 2024 | tes.com | Helen Amass

For the first time in years, Peter Blatchford has had a chance to really think about education. In 2017, he was awarded a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship, which gives recipients an opportunity to take time out from their day job and devote themselves to their research.
How schools are supporting their communities this Christmas

Dec 12, 2023 | tes.com | Helen Amass

On the first weekend of December, thousands of Santas descended on Liverpool city centre. It was, says Lindsey Collins, assistant vice-principal at Hillside High School in Bootle, Merseyside, “a sea of red”, with the occasional blue suit in there, too - “for Everton”, she adds. The Santas, including 18 members of staff from Hillside, were taking part in Liverpool’s Santa Dash: an annual 5k fun run to raise money for charity.
How should we teach writing in schools?

Nov 7, 2023 | tes.com | Helen Amass

This article was originally published on 8 November 2023“There’s what we call the reading war about how to teach reading, and there’s probably a similar kind of war about how to teach writing,” says Julie Dockrell. Dockrell is chair in psychology and special needs at UCL Institute of Education (IOE). She has spent much of her career researching writing development, so is all too familiar with the disagreements that exist about the best way to teach this skill.
Robert Eaglestone on how one view of knowledge came to dominate

Jun 27, 2023 | tes.com | Helen Amass
Mental health in schools: Is social contagion creating more problems?

Jun 13, 2023 | tes.com | Helen Amass