After moving to Dorset, Al chose YES! Driving School for his Driving Instructor Training and hasn’t looked back since. Al is a friendly and dedicated instructor with a calm, understanding manner and has a patient approach that helps put pupils at ease. He is keen to achieve and maintain the best standards as a driving instructor in Broadstone and the surrounding areas.
What makes the job so interesting for Al is that no two pupils are the same, and neither are their needs. His genuine curiosity for what his pupils are thinking and feeling helps him to tailor his lessons. He then adapts his teaching style to suit each pupil, finding the best way for them to learn. Al sees learning to drive as a partnership between pupil and instructor. He encourages them to be involved in decision-making as much as possible. As a driving instructor at Broadstone, he aims to create an atmosphere that allows pupils to achieve solid learning but, at the same time, allows them to not worry about any judgement when they make mistakes.
Importantly, Al prides himself on being a safe and respectful driver. Passing these qualities on to his pupils lies at the heart of everything that he teaches. He firmly believes these are qualities that are essential to making a well-rounded, competent and responsible driver for life.
Originally from the Midlands, Al lived and worked for several years in London as a Graphic Designer. He enjoyed designing for companies ranging from international brands to local businesses. From this, he gained valuable experience in how to work with and adapt to a wide range of people. He moved to Dorset in the mid-2010’s to find somewhere to put down long-term roots. Having worked in the design industry for several years, he decided he wanted a career that was more fulfilling and people-orientated. Having always been passionate about all things motoring, becoming a driving instructor was a perfect fit.
In his free time you can find him foraging deep in the forest or out on a long country walk – or if it’s raining he’s quite happy with one of his cats on his lap with a good film.
Alastair’s instructional techniques are really sharp. However, he combines this with a blend of humour, compassion and a natural curiosity about his pupils. Al has a constant thirst for further development progress and intends to achieve this by spending more time with our Director of Training, Pete Wilkinson.
Before moving to Dorset Susan lived and taught in South-West London. She now lives in Boscombe with her three children, her partner and a Dalmatian. Susan operates as a female automatic driving instructor. She covers the areas of Christchurch, Bournemouth and Poole – a wide area, because she can’t say “no”, when asked nicely.
Susan has also successfully completed the Mobility Course with QEF. This has given her an in depth knowledge of adaptations which can be made to a car. She also gained many techniques to be used to enable people with a variety of disabilities to be successful at driving.
Sue’s motoring career started when she marshalled at various motorbike events from club races to GPs. When occasionally asked if she’d ever get scared when teaching, Sue likes to reply that “nothing is as scary as a riderless motorbike hurtling towards you with only a straw bale (or another marshal) for protection!”. In other words, Sue is still looking for the student who’d give her a challenge ;).
Apart from that, Sue loves teaching in Dorset as the roads are so varied compared to South London roads. Please ask for Sue if you want a female automatic driving instructor with lessons that are fun and in a relaxed atmosphere.
Pete joined YES! Driving School when he moved to Dorset and chose YES! Driving School from many others. YES! Driving School made it easy for Pete to become a driving instructor in Blandford. In fairly quick time, Pete was invited to become Co-Owner of YES! Driving School with Ruedi
As part of his 22 years in the Army, Pete was an Instructor of various subjects for 21 years of this service. In this time, Pete realised that he had the ability to understand what makes an individual tick. Additionally, he learned how to get the best from each one. He now puts this ability together with the latest coaching techniques. This makes your learning experience an easy, stress free and fun time.
Pete believes that the Pupil should have a major say in their learning experience and any decisions made about the pace and direction of training should be a team effort. As a Trainer at heart, Pete is passionate about training. He takes great pleasure from seeing people progress in life and relishes in the excitement of Test Day. He has a great ability in putting his pupils at ease and giving a great sense of self-belief. This helps on Test Day and also in preparation for solo driving once the Pupil becomes a Full Licence Holder.
A strong knowledge of all test areas in Bournemouth, Poole, Dorchester and Salisbury ensures easy learning.
Always looking for self-improvement, Pete took the Advanced Driving Test assessed by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and achieved a Gold Award, the highest standard awarded. He has since retested several times with the same result and also went on to successfully complete the RoSPA Tutors Assessment. Pete aims to provide more than the basic levels as a Driving Instructor in Blandford and surrounding areas.
Pete, as Director of Training, also provides a structured programme of Instructor Training. If you’re interested in becoming a Driving Instructor, click here.
More recently, Pete completed his Standards Check with the DVSA and was Graded ‘A’, scoring the maximum score possible with 51/51. Top Result!
1/2 Day Refresher in auto or manual – Usually completed in a full morning or afternoon over a minimum of 3 hours + breaks.
After a long period off the road many drivers feel insecure or lacking in confidence and feel that they need a few lessons to get back on track. You’ll be surprised how quickly your driving skills come back to you even after a long break. However, it is important to cover a wide variety of roads, traffic conditions and, ideally, a few manoeuvres. To allow you to refresh at a steady pace, our half day refresher course is ideal. You can start in the safe environment of a dual controlled car before changing to your own car if you have one and want to.