Driving Lessons Gloucester- Driving Test Pass- Dan Reid of Hucclecote - October 20th 2016

Congratulations to Dan Reid of Hucclecote, who passed his driving test on October 20th 2016, at Gloucester test centre, with his instructor, Tom Lowe.
Tom was very pleased for Dan, saying that his driving in the build up to the test, and on the day, was spot on and that he was not at all surprised that Dan had passed.
All of us at John Lowe Driving wish Dan all the best, at this busy time of year, knowing that his full licence will be a tremendous asset to him and thank him for using our driving school.

Best Regards,
John Lowe.
http://johnrlowe.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/driving-lessons-gloucester-driving-test_30.html
http://www.drivinglessonsgloucester.org

7 Golden Rules For A 1st Time Pass.

Golden Rule No. 1. Have Regular Driving Lessons

Everybody would naturally like to pass their driving test at the first attempt and it is possible to increase your chances dramatically by following some sensible guidelines. Make sure you have at least one lesson each week and if you can manage a double lesson, or two single lessons a week, that is better still. But don’t worry if you can’t manage the extra lessons, as thousands of people have passed before, who have only ever had one driving lesson a week. (Me included!) If you are lucky enough to be offered private practice, go for it, as the more time spent driving will only be a benefit, and your driving instructor will be able to help you with the best approach to each topic, reducing the time before you are ready for your driving test. Remember, practise makes perfect. Golden Rule No.2. Be Prepared For Your Lesson. When the time for your driving lesson comes around again, make sure you are ready for it. Keep a note on your phone to remind you, as “surprise” lessons never really go that well. Your instructor may not be at his best either, if he’s had to wait for you to get ready! To get in the right frame of mind, think a little about your previous lesson and consider what topic you want to tackle on the next lesson, bearing in mind the previous lesson summary. Try to avoid late nights and partying the night before your lesson, as this usually leads to a poor learning experience, one that you will regret paying for. Look after yourself and you will get full value. Golden Rule No.3. Talk To Your Instructor. The driving instructors at John Lowe Driving will begin each lesson with a recap of what you covered last time, as part of the Client Centred Learning system that they will be using. The discussion will be interactive and you can discuss the topics to be covered in the session. Do join in with this as it can really assist the instructor in his approach to the lesson. Tell him if you are a little unwell, if you are dreading any possible part of the drive, or anything else that could have a bearing on the success of the session. Your instructor will be asking questions to establish your understanding of the last lesson and to test your knowledge of the agreed subject of the current lesson. This brief two way conversation is very important to ensure that you receive a top quality lesson and full value for money. Golden Rule No.4. Have An Objective. Each driving lesson must have an objective – “What are we going to achieve today?” This will be agreed with your instructor at the beginning of the session, having had a recap of the previous lesson, and a plan of the lesson will develop between the two of you for the topic to be covered and how it will move you towards your final goal. This most important and will considerably reduce your learning time. Your progress will be evaluated on a regular basis during the lesson, with adjustments made where necessary and you will quickly see how this system will transform your driving. Remember, it is a two way system, so keep asking questions and going over it as much as you need until you feel you have reached the objective. Golden Rule No.5. Your Lesson Should Be Structured. Your driving lesson will follow a structure as it progresses, being easy to start with and then increasing in difficulty as things progress. Your instructor will be asking you questions throughout, to check your confidence and understanding. The aim of the instructor is to gradually transfer the responsibility of the task to you. Your instructor will normally start each new topic with a talk through to ensure you are meeting the objectives correctly. The next stage of the lesson will be prompted questions, where you will be asked about your actions before you do it, so that it can be corrected if necessary. At this stage, you have started to take responsibility for the control. The final stage will be independent practice where you will drive unaided with the instructor keeping quiet. But don’t worry, your instructor will still be alert and ready to step in verbally or with dual controls if things don’t go to plan! These building blocks can reduce a difficult task into something quite manageable very rapidly and you will feel that you have had a quality lesson, having been fully involved from the start. Golden Rule No.6. Talk It Through At The End. You will have gained new skills, knowledge and understanding during your driving lesson and to help emphasise the vital points and to enable you to retain as much as possible from the lesson, your instructor will summarise your progress. Do join in with this chat and you will see the progress that has been made. Your instructor will take you back to the objective and you can agree together how your driving has advanced. If your objective has not been achieved in full, don’t worry, this sometimes happens, but after this chat you will know why and it can lay a basis for the next lesson, where you will have a chance to crack the problem, and you will! Golden Rule No.7. Self Evaluate, Be Ready and Listen. Unfortunately, it’s no good turning up for your driving test with your fingers crossed, hoping for the best. This approach will only lead to an unhappy conclusion to a lot of effort. Have you been honest with yourself? Are you still making mistakes on your lessons? Are the mistakes clustered around the same subjects? Are there any serious errors occurring? If so, you are not ready for your test. It is far better for you to wait until these faults are a thing of the past (it will happen!), and you will be able to tackle your test with confidence. Take a look at our test passes to see the number of first time passes we achieve at John Lowe Driving. There is no reason at all for you to not be one of them. Finally, listen to the advice of your instructor. Driving Instructors are highly trained and experienced at assessing when you are ready for your driving test, you are paying for professional advice, so it would be wise to listen to it. You will know if you are still making mistakes and so will your instructor who will be reluctant to take you to test on that basis. He/she will have been working with you and building a rapport over a period of time and the last thing your instructor or you want is a test fail. Your driving instructor will have a massive incentive to get you a 1st time pass as his/her reputation depends on a high pass rate and the drive home from a failed test is the worst feeling in the world. We wish you every success and remember, there is no reason why you should not achieve a first time pass, if you follow the seven golden rules. Warm Regards, John Lowe. http://www.drivinglessonsgloucester.org

Driving Lessons Gloucester- Driving Test Pass- Joanne Hancock of Abbeymead - October 5th 2016

Congratulations to Joanne Hancock, who achieved a first time driving test pass on October 5th 2016, at Gloucester Test Centre, with her driving instructor, Tom Lowe.
Tom has said that Joanne had put in a lot of effort in her theory and hazard tests, and took such an interest in getting her driving to a high standard, that he wasn't surprised at all that she passed first time.
It's a good time of year to pass, as winter approaches, so no more waiting at windy bus stops for Joanne.
All of us at John Lowe Driving wish Joanne well for the future, welcome her to the first time pass club, and thank her for using our driving school.

Warm Regards,
John Lowe.
http://johnlowedriving.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/driving-lessons-gloucester-driving-test_8.html

http://www.drivinglessonsgloucester.org

Driving Lessons Gloucester - A Look At Driving Lessons.

Driving lessons can vary enormously in the quality and content that they offer, depending on the individual instructor that you have.

Many people make the understandable mistake in seeking the cheapest driving lessons, only to realise much later that it has ended up as a frustrating and expensive experience, sometimes being with an instructor who is not fully qualified, or has not kept up to date with the latest requirements.

Here at John Lowe Driving we are amazed at how many times the first question we are asked revolves around driving lesson prices instead of the learning experience that can be expected.

We fully appreciate that prices have to be sensible and always seek to be competitive, but beware the very cheap offers, as there will probably be an underlying reason for them and you can end up with poor service and a dismal learning experience.

Nationally, around 30% of learner drivers will change their driving instructor or driving school before taking their practical test for a variety of reasons and we receive several calls each week from unhappy students wanting to join us, who have been let down elsewhere.

How to evaluate whether you are getting the most benefit from a driving lesson:

Driving lessons should begin with an interactive discussion to establish your state of learning and explore any issues that may influence the driving session. Following this would be a discussion as to what topics you would like to cover and use of Q & A to establish your theory knowledge of the subject to be covered.

A risk plan would then be devised as to who is going to take responsibility for what actions: For example – is the instructor going to talk you through the entire topic or are you going to share the responsibility for your actions and have the instructor coach you with well guided questions. It extremely important to understand this aspect to avoid over or under instruction.

After a short period of practice, a brief stop to evaluate what has been learnt before deciding on the next phase of the lesson. It could be that you both agree that further practice would be beneficial or perhaps the plan would be to move to the next stage and attempt a spell of independent driving.

It is vital that you are always involved in the planning process to gain the maximum benefit from your driving lesson.

Not all driving instructors are adapting this type of client centred learning as many are yet to take the up-to-date training required and this is often reflected in the price they will charge for their Driving lessons.

Lis, our office manager will be very keen to explore your circumstances and will discuss your availability to take regular driving lessons, as continuity is crucial to speed up your learning process. She will also discuss any previous experience that you may have or whether you are a complete beginner, in order to team you up with the most suitable instructor. You may prefer a female driving instructor for example. We find that many students that call have already been to our “Meet the Team” section in the “About Us” page to choose an instructor based on their individual customer reviews.

John Lowe Driving offers driving lessons in the following areas:

Gloucester; Churchdown; Brockworth; Abbeymead; Quedgeley and all locations between.

In summary, I suggest that you perform as much research as possible before making that all important choice of who you will trust with your tuition. More and more people are now turning to customer reviews to get an independent and unbiased view of the services and tuition on offer.

I wish you every success with your driving and a 1^st time pass.

Warm regards,

John Lowe

http://www.drivinglessonsgloucester.org

Lis Lowe, Office Manager.

Driving Lessons Gloucester- Driving Test Pass- Hannah Duncan of Quedgeley- September 28th 2016.

Congratulations to Hannah Duncan of Quedgeley, who passed her driving test first time on September 28th 2016 at Gloucester Test Centre, with her driving instructor, Nick Butters.
Nick was hoping that Hannah would get the first time pass that she deserved, as she had put a lot into her lessons and preparation and he was not disappointed.
 All of us at John Lowe Driving know that she will enjoy being on the road, welcome her to the first time pass club, and thank her for using our driving school. We wish Hannah all the best for the future.
Warm Regards,
John Lowe.
http://johnlowedriving.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/driving-lessons-gloucester-driving-test_6.html
http://www.drivinglessonsgloucester.org

Driving Lessons Gloucester- Driving Test Pass- Dakota Barber of Gloucester- September 27th 2016

Congratulations to Dakota Barber on her first time driving test pass on September 27th 2016 at Gloucester test centre, with her instructor, Nick Butters.
Nick was delighted for Dakota, as she had made a tremendous effort in her lessons, always aiming to pass first time and her commitment really paid off. Dakota now has the freedom of the road and can take her many plans forward. Well done!
All of us at John Lowe Driving wish Dakota all the best, welcome her to the first time pass club, and thank her for using our driving school.

Warm Regards,
John Lowe.
http://johnlowedriving.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/driving-lessons-gloucester-driving-test.html
http://www.drivinglessonsgloucester.org

Driving Lessons Gloucester- How To Pass Your Test, Part 13. - Analysing The Driving Test Report (DL25)

The end is in sight of our detailed look at the Driving Test Report. There are three sections remaining, that concern the car test and in another post we will look at Eco Safe Driving, which is dealt with on the Driving Test Report, but will not necessarily have a bearing on the test result. 
The remaining sections are: 25, Position/normal stops, 26, Awareness/planning, and 27, Ancillary controls.

Let's look at the sections in order.

25. Position/normal stops.

You will be asked to stop the car at various times on your test and you will be expected to take in all of the road features and conditions, before deciding on a suitable place each time, having properly used the MSM routine.

What can go wrong? Lots of things if you let your guard down.

Typical faults recorded:

• Pulling up in an unsafe place.
• Blocking a driveway or other entrance.
• Obstructing other drivers.
• Stopping too far from the kerb.
• Hitting or mounting the pavement when stopping.

26. Awareness/planning.

This section is concerned with you looking ahead and anticipating what might happen and your ability to plan your actions to minimise hazards.

Typical faults recorded:

• Not anticipating that pedestrians are about to cross the road at any time.
• Not giving way to pedestrians at junctions or pedestrian crossings.
• Not anticipating that cyclists may be passing on the left or right.
• Not anticipating that cyclists are about to make a change of direction.
• Not anticipating or showing awareness of direction signals given by other drivers.
• Not anticipating or showing awareness of vehicles displaying hazard flashers.
• Not anticipating or showing awareness of vehicles reversing lights.
• Not anticipating or showing awareness of brake lights on other vehicles.
• Not anticipating the actions of other drivers changing speed or direction.

27. Ancillary Controls.

What are ancillary controls?

They are:

1. Lights
2. Indicators
3. Windscreen wipers
4. De-misters
5. Heated rear windscreen
6. Heater/air conditioning
7. Horn
8. Hazard warning lights

You will be expected to know when and how to use any of these controls and to understand and deal with any warning lights on the dashboard that may come on.

Well, this concludes the series on How To Pass Your Test and the Driving Test Report. Thanks for reading this far, and we hope it has been helpful, but why not take it further and book some driving lessons, we'd love to see you!

Call Us On: 01452 614226.

Warm Regards,

John Lowe

http://www.drivinglessonsgloucester.org