ROLES OF PARENTS & STUDENTS

HOW STUDENTS, PARENTS AND RSA SCHOOL OF MOTORING WORK WELL TOGETHER

Teams are potent things. Without them, how would we win rugby union, hockey, cricket and golf competitions as a nation? Learning to drive safely is another important achievement along the road of life. It’s time your kid stopped sitting passively in the back seat while you play taxi. It’s time to change seats in more ways than one. As Sponsor, you help them recall what they learned at their most recent RSA School of Motoring lesson and practice it to perfection.

ARE PARENTS PERFECT SPONSORS, OR ARE THERE OTHER OPTIONS?

Ideally, a parent is best because you know each other well, and you want your child to grow to adulthood and become independent. But that’s not strictly necessary because the basic requirement is having the necessary driving experience. The minimum is 2 years with a driving licence although 5 is better. It’s absolutely perfect if the Sponsor has driven 100,000 kilometres already. That’s not nearly as much as it seems. Taken over 20 years you only need to average 5,000 kilometres.

So now you know you meet the base criteria, we’d be thrilled for you to meet with the ADI approved driving instructor you are considering and draw up a plan together that gives your child the very best opportunity to pass. When you team with them, you form a powerful triangle with great potential to produce yet another RSA-trained safe driver.

There’s no need to feel unsure about this because there are so many ways to make it work. You become the ADI’s training buddy and they give you all the advice and assistance that you need. You’ll also have the handy logbook notes to guide you as to where you need to concentrate.

SPONSORS ARE AS INDISPENSABLE AS ESSENTIAL DRIVER TRAINING

We’re not kidding; your child must have a Sponsor because this is what your law requires. Who better to do this than a loving parent? And who else would you want to entrust the process to. You have the logbook as a guidebook enabling you to perfectly complement the formal training, and as parent you know exactly how to tailor-make the process.

PLEASE BE WILLING TO TAKE TIME OUT TO HELP WITH PRACTICING

The system cannot work unless as Sponsor you dive in and become involved. There’s more to this than sitting in the passenger seat, admiring the view and commenting from time to time. You have to get inside the youngster’s mind, understand their thoughts, and help them build their confidence. It’s like any other aspect of helping teens to grow to maturity.

The ADT can be a power to your elbow in this regard because they have prior experience. Draw on this knowledge - which costs nothing extra - as you identify areas of improvement and lesson plans. If you feel you need extra resources we can provide these.

You are most welcome to attend formal essential driver training sessions too. Having foreknowledge enables you to plan ahead, and complement them perfectly.

ARE YOU READY TO GET TOGETHER AND BEGIN THE PROCESS?

That’s great to hear. Please meet the ADI as soon as possible and share ideas on how best to help the student. This is the perfect time to agree your level of involvement, and confirm your time commitment. You should also use the opportunity to decide how best to structure follow-up training sessions, and whether there may be times when you need extra help.

SPONSORING DEMANDS MORE THAN JUST YOUR TIME

We cannot emphasise this enough. Being a Sponsor becomes a privilege as you discover just how critical your contribution is. The student is in your care as you help them to absorb our lessons, and drive safely on County Cork Roads. After we have helped the learner driver tick off another goal in life together, we hope you will agree the time was well spent, and that the rewards made it worthwhile. Welcome to our world of teaching driving!