July 5, 2023
Tips for ADI’S & PDI’S

Being a driving instructor is a very sociable job, where you spend lots of time in close proximity with your pupils. When teaching there is many things to consider to help you keep your pupils happy and ensure they continue lessons with you. Along with being professional at all times and ensuring you are teaching your pupils to the best of your ability, there a few other things that can go against you.

Personal Hygiene:

Keeping yourself clean and smelling fresh is a top priority when you are teaching a pupil, in a car you are right next to the pupil and with the windows closed in the winter any odours in the vehicle will be amplified and in the summer odours will be heated up due to the increased temperature. Having a quick shower in the morning before you go out on lessons will not only freshen you up, but also wake you up so you are ready to take on the day.

Top tip:

Try reducing the water temperature towards the end of the shower to you end the shower with a blast of cold water,  there are many benefits of this which include: Increases endorphins, helps improve metabolism, improves circulation, helps fight off common illnesses and increases mental ability.

 

Keeping the vehicle clean and hygienic:

You should treat your car as an extension of your house, keep in mind your car is where you will be spending your working day and where your student will be learning. Your vehicle has to be cleaned to the highest standards, so avoiding eating and drinking in your car would be a good start as small spaces can hold smells for a long time. This would also avoid any spills or crumbs, hoovering your car and polishing off any dust is always a good idea. Not forgetting the exterior of the car, either washing your car yourself or going to a professional car wash will ensure your vehicle is appealing to the outside. Remember when you drive your car you are advertising your business to the general public and potential future students.Don’t store anything in your car unless you need it for every trip. There is no point in cluttering your car with things like toys, gym bags, books and magazines. Besides adding to the stress, such items take up valuable space.You can prevent odors by keeping the upholstery clean and dry. Using dryer sheets under the seats and a good car deodorizer will help.

Top tip:

An air freshener will keep your car smelling good at all times, but choose wisely as some can be very overpowering.

Punctuality:

It sometimes is not possible to avoid traffic caused by an unexpected accident but keeping up to date with the latest traffic updates can help you plan out your routes, for example if there is on going roadworks in a certain area then you can make a plan to use different routes. There will of course be times when you can’t avoid it or it is sprung upon you, so having good communication with pupils will really help. If you are running late for any reason parking up and giving them a quick call or a text to inform them you are running behind will be very much appreciated and help ensure you keep a good communication between you and your student.

 

Rebecca at Britannia says:

These are all extremely important tips that can help to ensure an instructor can retain their pupils.

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June 13, 2022
Part 3 of ADI – Lesson Planning Secrets

Part 3 of ADI – Lesson Planning Secrets

Re cap and Set Goals with Student

In the car, ask the student what they did in the previous lesson and how they felt it went. We could ask them to rate themselves on a scale of 0 to 10. Talk about what didn’t go so well. Inquire about their objectives for this lesson.

Determine Your Goals and Objectives

Discuss how you intend to share risk with your student (verbally by mentioning it in Questions and Answers).

Discuss Other Driving and how your lesson plan may need to be changed.

When Examiner enters the car, you must briefly explain your objectives and goals, as well as what you hope to achieve from this lesson.

On the road, make sure your teaching method is based on the question-and-answer method. If a serious error occurs, you may have to stop the car and explain it to the student for no more than two to three minutes. The goal is to keep the car moving by asking questions early on to guide the student.

Remember, this is a proper driving lesson, so mention anything that has gone wrong rather than just sticking to your stated subject. Remember that if something serious or dangerous occurs, you may need to change the lesson plan.

Identify and analyse flaws (what caused the fault, the dangers of making such a fault and how you are going to put that fault right). You don’t have to stop your learner from cutting a right-hand corner. Explain the dangers of cutting a right-hand corner, why the student did it, and how they’ll fix it. Ask them what position they’ll take and what reference they’ll utilise. If that succeeds, ask if they want full responsibility to test if they can turn correctly. This strategy works for prompting and independence. End the class with a 3-minute summary. Ask how they did, if they scored themselves, what went well, what didn’t, and what they want to do in the next lesson.

Please remember to avoid subjects such as controls lessons, moving off and stopping, and turning from left to right from major to minor junctions. Manoeuvres: While a manoeuvre can be included in a lesson, it should not be the primary focus. The Examiner will confirm that the test will last 45 minutes, of which 40 minutes the wheels should be turning.

Changes to Part 3 and Standards Check

Many processes and procedures have been changed to protect examiners and their clients.

  • The test’s start and end times are set by the examiner.
  • The instructor can choose a different meeting location within 5 minutes of the test centre.
  • The 45-minute exam has 40 minutes of “wheels moving.”

The examiner will confirm any such arrangements via telephone. When they contact you, they will confirm whether your student is:

  • Undertrained
  • Trained
  • Full License Holder

An introductory or static instruction is UNACCEPTABLE. Keeping the car moving and ventilated during the evaluation is recommended.

The examiner will see a portion of your lesson with this student. BEFORE the inspector enters the car, you must:

  • Set a goal
  •  Agreed on a lesson plan that accommodates client preferences
  • Selected an appropriate route/region
  • Determined your duties and responsibilities in relation to the objective
  • Discussed risk management

It is then your responsibility to summarise what you have talked with the examiner in no more than two to three minutes!

Take your time with the goal setting/risk/roles and responsibilities, as there are no time constraints, but keep in mind that if this is not done correctly, it will become apparent as the course progresses! You will still be evaluated on ALL 17 COMPETENCIES!!

Go!

If a PDI/ADI takes too much time speaking or briefing, the examiner will tell them to “get moving.” If the PDI/ADI stays still, the examiner won’t mark the evaluation as satisfactory, you won’t get a score, and your exam fee will be forfeited.

Wheels should remain turning, but you can stop if something is wrong and benefits your consumer or if something harmful has happened.

Limit analysis and feedback.

Discuss a safety issue with three questions.

How come? (Why)

WHY If not near them, risks.

How to improve next time (What could you do differently)

Take them about and assign positions and duties. If the customer is comfortable addressing topics on the go, a short analysis can be done. It’s better to find someone who can accomplish this than someone who wants to chat.

The client can reflect on their performance at the end of the session, but just for 1-2 minutes!

Just three questions will do.

What worked

What went wrong

  • What do you want to work on next time?

Remember, this is your interview to become a driving instructor or stay on the list.

Types of lessons include:

Dual carriageways could be your platform, and your goal could be “entering dual carriageways, getting the speed right, and selecting where to safely combine.”

Find a location with many on-off and looping slip roads to give students lots of learning opportunities.

As a platform, roundabouts demand speed and discernment.

A busy circular loop to test your decision-making skills. As a platform, use country roads; watch speed, gear, and limit points on curves.

Ideal for a FLH to acquire confidence on bends and gear selection, etc.

The following will be checked:

  • Learning happens
  • The car is safe.
  • Value is good.

Frank Eustace, the trainer for Britannia, states, “The majority of candidates who fail Part 3 do so because they fail to plan the driving lesson. You’ve heard the adage, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” This is especially true when teaching people to drive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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January 5, 2021
Driving and riding lessons and tests – National lockdown

On 4 January, the government announced a new national lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus.

You can read more about the lockdown measures on GOV.UK

Driving and riding lessons

Driving and riding lessons, including CBT must not take place until the restrictions are lifted. This includes ADI part 2 and 3 tests and standards checks.

Driving and riding tests

All driving and riding tests have been suspended from 5 January until the restrictions are lifted.

We’ll email candidates who are affected by this to let them know we will reschedule their test.

If you have booked a test for any of your pupils you will receive an email to let you know it will be rescheduled to a new time and date. You will need to contact your pupil to let them know.

We’ll then send you an email with the new time and date as soon as possible; please ask your pupils to be patient.

If the new time and date is not suitable for you or your pupil, you can choose a different time and date on GOV.UK. You will need your pupil’s driving licence number to do this. Your pupil does not need to pay again to do this.

Theory tests

All theory tests will be suspended until the restrictions are lifted.

We will email anyone who has booked a test and is affected by this to let them know their theory test is on hold and that they will need to reschedule it by visiting https://www.gov.uk/change-theory-test.

If you booked your pupil’s theory test you will need to log into the booking system and rearrange their test for a new date and time.

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May 2, 2019
Looking for a new career?

 

Becoming a driving instructor is a very rewarding choice of career- It gives you the freedom to be your own boss, working times and days to suit your life, it also helps you become an important figure in the lives of inexperienced drivers, helping them to gain their independence on our roads. At Britannia we all remember our first driving instructors!

Here at Britannia Driving School we continually work hard to introduce new pupils to all our driving instructors, we give them the edge over the competition. We are different to other driving schools as most of Britannia’s income is spent on the following.

 

MARKETING: Google, Yellow pages, car livery, internet sites, direct marketing, Offering freephone lines for both landlines and mobile phones, and of course mostly by personal recommendation!

BRITANNIA’S WEBSITE: Our website is a field leader, attracting over 2 million users annually. Major keywords like “driving schools” will take you to a list of search results on search engines and Britannia Driving School will appear at the top from around 153 million driving school results.

BRITANNIA DRIVING SCHOOL OFFICE: Our office is open five days a week to driving instructors and the public. The Britannia telesales staff are highly trained and very motivated, their selling skills will keep you topped up with pupils all year round.

INTERNET DIARY: Pupils are given allocation to instructors according to postal codes and diary requirements and added to our bespoke internet diary. We have a message board to help instructors communicate directly with the office team and vice versa, the diary can be updated and reached by smart phone or computer alike globally.

PRE-PAYMENT: Unlike other schools Britannia has a pre-payment system which eliminates last minute cancellations by pupils.

SUPPORT: Help and advice is always readily available in the office for face to face advice or a phone call away, whether you need help with teaching, book keeping or accounts.

WHY CHOOSE BRITANNIA DRIVING SCHOOL?

Britannia will provide instant access to large marketing base, as well as a largely beneficial association with one of the most trusted brands in driving tuition in Great London. Our brand name attracts substantial number of quality pupils, which helps instructors to minimise cancellations and retain pupils.

INTERESTED: Why Not give our friendly office staff a call, chat online or send an email you will be invited for a non-obligation friendly chat and a coffee, all your questions will be answered and you will be assessed on your suitability to becoming a driving instructor.

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