Ashley joins the club

The tests are coming thick and fast at the moment. After Emma and Adam’s success in Elgin, and Verity’s in Grantown yesterday, I am now back at Inverness Test Centre. Ashley is out on her first attempt. Ashley started with me back in the early spring, but she has only been having an hour a week.
Often, at the end of (or even during) the first lesson, the pupil will ask me how long it will take them to pass. As much as the DSA want us to teach ‘Safe driving for life’ (which we do), most pupils just want enough lessons to pass their test. Usually, I find it very difficult to estimate how long it will take after one lesson; besides, I don’t want to tell them. Ashley was different. For someone who had never even sat in the driver’s seat before, she really impressed me with her coordination on that first lesson. Since then she has developed into a safe, natural driver. Unfortunately, she struggled on the theory test, taking several attempts before she finally passed last month. Otherwise, we would have put in for her test maybe a couple of months ago.

A few weeks ago, when I looked at all the tests I had coming up, Ashley, Adam and Glynn were the three I was most confident about. They turned up every single week and put in almost fault-free lessons. My job with them, while we waited for their tests, has been to take them beyond test level. For example, with Ashley, who lives on the other side of Inverness, I just pick her up and ask her to drive to the test centre (as opposed to giving junction by junction directions). Only if I can see a particularly tricky situation ahead will I question her about how she is going to deal with the situation. She now knows such things as when it is appropriate to block change, how to deal with all possibilities during the manoeuvres, and can comfortably deal with overtaking on the A9 while chatting to me about her work/boyfriend/friends.

So it was of some concern just now when, in the hour’s lesson before her test, she started making mistakes. She asked me lots of questions, such as how much to steer on a parallel park, and approached most roundabouts very cautiously and changing down to 1st unnecessarily. “Don’t change your driving. You can do this easily. Just drive EXACTLY as you have been driving for the last couple of months.” I just hope that last-minute cigarette has calmed her nerves and she drives as I know she can.
I need not have worried. Ashley just passed with 2 minor faults. A fantastic result. So, with Erin’s test on Monday, my pupils are currently enjoying a good run as far as tests are concerned. I shouldn’t speak too soon; I know from experience that a good run can easily be followed by a bad run.

Just one more lesson, with Jamie, then I’m off home to raise a glass to Ashley, Verity, Emma and Adam. Slàinte mhath! or, if you prefer, Cheers!