Before your lesson
You need a valid provisional driving licence to take driving lessons. Have your licence ready and confirm the meeting place with Dean before the day. If you wear glasses or contact lenses to meet the driving eyesight standard, bring them and wear them for driving. You can check the requirements in the official guide to learning to drive.
Choose comfortable clothes and shoes that let you feel and control the pedals. Give yourself enough time to arrive without rushing. There is no need to study the dashboard or memorise a sequence of instructions beforehand; understanding will come through explanation and practice.
Let Dean know if you have taken lessons before, have been away from driving for a while, or find a particular situation worrying. You can also explain how you prefer to learn: watching a demonstration, hearing an explanation or trying a task in small steps.
Getting comfortable in the car
The first conversation helps establish your experience and goals. A complete beginner may start with the basics, while someone returning to lessons may need a review of what they already know. Your lesson should begin at your current level.
Before moving, you will be introduced to the seating position, mirrors, seat belt and controls you will use. Dean can explain the automatic selector, accelerator, brake and how to secure the car when stopped. Ask for an explanation again if something is unclear. It is easier to build a safe routine when you understand the reason behind each part.
You can say what you need
Useful phrases include “Can you show me first?”, “Could we practise that again?” and “I need a moment to take that in.” Clear feedback helps Dean adjust the lesson to you.
Your first drive
When it is appropriate to begin driving, the aim is to practise manageable tasks with support. For a beginner, that may mean moving off, steering, controlling speed and stopping safely in a suitable quieter area. What you cover depends on your experience, conditions and progress during the session.
You will start connecting the controls with what is happening around the car: checking before moving, looking ahead and allowing enough time to respond. There is no need to cover everything in one lesson. Repeating a simple task until it becomes clearer is useful progress.
What is different about automatic lessons?
An automatic car removes manual gear changes and clutch control from the task. You still need to develop observation, positioning, speed control and safe decisions. Dean teaches in a dual-control Hyundai Kona, with the lesson paced around what you are ready to practise.
If you feel overloaded, say so. Dean can break the next task down, explain it while parked or choose an appropriate place to pause. The objective is to build understanding, rather than get through a checklist quickly.
Making the next lesson useful
At the end, review what you practised, what became easier and what needs more work. A useful next target is specific: smoother stopping, earlier observation or a clearer moving-off routine. You can use your DMSM progress information to keep track between lessons.
Think about one question to bring next time. Reading the Highway Code or revisiting a lesson explanation can support your understanding, but you do not need to teach yourself the next driving task before returning.
DMSM automatic lessons last two hours. Teaching hours are Monday–Friday, 08:00–17:00. Contact Dean for prices and check the Gainsborough or Lincoln coverage page. Joining the waiting list is a request for availability; a lesson is confirmed separately.