Why do you record pupil progress at the end of every driving lesson?

We Findley's we record pupil progress at the end of every lesson.

As a professional driving school Findley's recognises the value of recording the progres of a pupil at the end of every lesson. This is to the advantage of both the pupil and the driving instructor. Allow me to explain why.

For the instructor:-

• At the beginning of the lesson:- - Say for example that an instructor does forty lesson hours per week and a certain pupil has one of those, then potentially the instructor has performed thirty nine driving lessons before he sees the first pupil drive again. It would be an absolute feat of memory for the instructor to remember exactly what was covered on that pupils previous lesson and exactly how good they were at all of the individual topics. By recording this information at the end of the previous lesson the instructor only has to look at the pupils individual record sheet to see an accurate measure of that pupils progress. Not only that but at a glance the instructor can see the history of that pupils progress so if there are any recurring problems or flat spots in performance they can be worked on. This would be impossible to manage to the same degree of accuracy without a permanent record of pupil progress.
  
  
• At the end of the lesson:- - Our instructor and pupil have just finished a driving lesson. The instructor is about to debrief the pupil on their performance and record the pupils progress. Simply by starting at the top and running down the topic list the instructor can perform a debrief that will include all of the relevent information for that lesson in detail. Whilst possessing first class communication skills not all of us have the supposed memory of an elephant. It helps therefore when we see the topic headings to ensure that every detail that needs to be brought to the pupils attention is mentioned.
  
  The reason for the debrief at the end of the lesson is to make sure that the pupil knows which topics have been covered in the lesson, how well they have done, if there were any problems that still need sorting out and if so; what is going to be done about them in the future. It is also nice for the pupil to be aware of which topics their instructor intends to cover with them on the next lesson so that if they have the time and inclination they can refer to this website and look up the details of the topic/topics which they are going to cover on the next lesson.
  
  At this point in time the instructors knowledge of the pupils driving knowledge and skill levels is at its highest. This has got to be the best time for the instructor to decide on the lesson plan for the following lesson. By simply placing a few ticks lightly on the record card the instructor can see at the beginning of the next lesson exactly what they have planned to do with this particular pupil.
  
  
• Conclusion - If no records at all are kept then an instructor could not possibly refresh their memory to such a high degree at the beginning of the lesson. The lesson plan would also not be as relevent and sometimes the instructor would have to ask the pupil to remind them what had been covered on the previous lesson. Either that or they may go out and cover the same thing again without realising it, wasting the pupils cash.

For the pupil:-

• At the beginning of the lesson:- - A pupil will know that their instructor has a lesson plan that is tailored specifically to meet their individual requirements, not just a general memory of what was covered last time. Continuation of syllabus coverage is therefore assured. It never sounds good if the instructor has to ask the pupil to remind them about the previous lessons topics or achievements.
• At the end of the lesson:- - The pupil knows that they will receive an in depth debrief which will allow them the benefit of knowing exactly how well they are doing. By looking at their record of progress they can also see how much of the course they still have left to cover and how well they are doing at it.
  
  Every pupil, quite understandably, once they have completed enough topics to a reasonable standard wants to know the answer to the following two questions:-
  
  
  • Have we completed the course yet? And if so;
  • Am I ready to be put in for my practical test yet?
  
  Both of these questions are easily answered by taking a look at the record of progress at the end of a lesson. Any topics not yet covered will not have any marks against them and once the pupil has achieved a column full of test standard grades at the end of their lesson then they will know that they are ready for the test.
  
  
• Between lessons:- - If you have been wise enough to choose a driving school which cares about you enough to provide a series of online tutorials (Hmmm. Findley's driving school comes immediately to mind) then, if you have the time and the inclination, you can go online and do two very important things between lessons. Firstly you can mentally recap the leson topics which you have covered previously thereby refreshing and quite possibly extending your knowledge with details that had slipped yopur mind. Secondly you can look up the details of the topics that your instructor has said that they will cover with you on the occasion of your next lesson. This puts you firmly ahead of the game and in a better position to achieve the required standards quicker and therefore cover more topics to a greater degree on any given lesson.
  
  
• Conclusion - For the pupils that can be bothered the combination of knowledge about the extent of the course that they have already covered and what they are going to do next with the availability of the tutorials on this website allows them the possibility of requiring less driving lessons and therefore saving money. A Findley's instructor does not need to charge you for a single lesson more than necessary. Because of the popularity of this method of learning, once the word gets round in a new area they will have no difficulty at all in gaining new pupils. The quicker they get the existing ones past their practical driving tests the better.