Covid & general update

Heyy! It's been a while since I've written an update and this is important, please read the whole blog - I'll try and keep it as short as possible & in bullet points! :)

*This blog has been sent to every single pupil learning with us at the moment*

Firstly, after such a tough year, we would like to just check in and ask if you're ok? We're always here to chat, please let us know if there's anything we can do :)

Our instructors were let lose again in April 2021 when lockdown #3 ended and we've all LOVED being back on the road. It's been great to see some familiar pupil faces, as well as new faces! We've had some great test successes too, and we hope that continues throughout the rest of the year! :)

Covid restrictions

• Covid restrictions are gradually easing, however we are still being safe and taking precautions. Masks will remain optional and we respect your choice. Cleaning the car between lessons and deep cleaning at the end of each day will still take place.

• If you have any covid symptoms, please message your instructor as soon as possible. Please follow the current NHS self isolation and testing guidelines. We will cancel any lessons booked within the next 10 days - just to keep you, us, and our pupils safe.

• If you are asked to self isolate through NHS test and trace, please message your instructor as soon as possible. We will continue lessons as soon as your self isolation period ends.

• Payments will continue via bank transfer. Payments should not be made via cash. Please ensure payments are made before the lesson begins.

Cancellation period

• Our 48 hour cancellation notice period still remains in force. If you cancel your lesson with less than 48 hours notice, you will be charged. We are seeing a MASSIVE increase in short notice cancellations in the past 2 weeks. We have seen 14 cancellations in the past 14 days across all 7 of our instructors - we have NEVER seen this level of cancellations, even during the peak of the pandemic. We absolutely KNOW that some things cannot be helped and we appreciate that - we are all human and us instructors occasionally have these issues too! We appreciate your support and honesty with us :)

• Those who are cancelling at short notice for non-genuine reasons are leaving the diary with open gaps that are hard to fill last minute, making it very difficult for us financially, but also making it difficult for the pupils who genuinely wanted a lesson that day. I HATE to be so blunt but this is honestly what we're facing and it's not fair on our instructors or other pupils.

• For the above reasons, if a pupil is cancelling (at short notice) more lessons than they are actually having, we will consider removing them from our diary. This decision will not be made lightly and we will of course take into account all circumstances. The lesson space will then be given to the next pupil on our waiting list, who is desperately waiting for lessons.

Total Drive

• Please ensure you are signed up to Total Drive. If you are unable to log in or don't have access, please ask us to re-send you the log in details. Total Drive is a free app which provides you with lesson reminders, progress tracking, resources etc. We will resend the Total Drive log in details to anyone who hasn't logged in for a while.

• When we have short notice cancellations, we often add a 'lesson gap' to our diary on Total Drive. This means you'll receive a notification through the Total Drive app to say there is an available lesson on ___ day/time. You can choose to accept the lesson if you're available and would like the additional lesson, or you can choose to ignore the lesson.

Driving tests

• PLEASE DO NOT book a driving test without the prior permission of your instructor. We will NOT take pupils to any tests booked at short notice, tests rearranged to be sooner than the original planned & agreed date (without prior permission), or tests booked at different test centres.

• Please ensure you send your instructor the booking confirmation details of your test so they can add this to their diary.

• Please keep your instructor informed of any changes to the test date/time. Sometimes the DVSA will reschedule your test, for example if the examiner is poorly. Keep an eye on your emails (and junk mail!).

• Please listen to your instructor! With tests so hard to book at the moment, your instructor will not take you to your test if you are not ready (this has always been the case, but is now more important than ever!). They will inform you with plenty of notice if they do not believe you are ready, allowing you time to change your test, or time to take additional lessons to be prepared and ready. Your instructor wants you to pass, just as much as you do! So PLEASE trust that your instructor has your best interests at heart and if they are saying you are not ready for test, they are being honest and trying to save you a failed attempt at your test. If you fail now, you're looking at a 5 month wait for a new test.

I feel it is important to keep you all updated with where we are at, and it's important for pupils to also understand their responsibility towards their lessons. We appreciate your support and understanding during these crazy busy times, and we appreciate your respect towards the lessons you have booked, keeping us updated with any issues or queries you have, and cancelling with plenty of notice where possible - thank you :)

If you have any questions regarding anything mentioned here, or about anything else in general, please contact your instructor, or Laura on 07982 493422 :)

As always, stay safe :)

DKM Team x