Warkworth Driving Academy

Anette Goetter felt it was time for a change after five years working at Amberlea Rest Home, when the Warkworth Driving Academy came up for sale.

She is now a fully qualified driving instructor and a member of the NZ Institute of Driver Educators. In addition, she has 40 years of driving experience.

Securing the instructor qualification required her to resit her driver’s licence test, so she has an appreciation of what students have to experience today.

Anette also understands that teaching your own children to drive can be tough.

“Things can get heated, and after a short while they think they know it all. But learning from a third party seems to put teenagers at ease.”

She says students have different learning styles. Some need videos, others need verbal explanation, while some just learn by doing.

“I really enjoy the one-to-one teaching and seeing students accomplish something they were actually a little scared of to start with.”

Anette recommends parents sign their children up for driving lessons early in their learning experience to prevent any bad habits from becoming ingrained.

“Parents are encouraged to sit in for a lesson or two to support their child’s driving skills outside lesson time,” she says.

Drivers should then practice as much as possible, up until the date of their restricted test, at which time a few more pre-test lessons with WDA should cement their learning.

WDA takes learner drivers to Orewa and Silverdale to practice in a livelier urban environment, where they could ultimately have to sit their test.

WDA also provides defensive driving courses. Taking a course reduces the period before drivers can sit their full license test from 18 months to 12 months. Defensive driving is currently taught at Tui House, on Glenmore Drive, by Neil Collings, who has 20 years of experience and was the original founder of WDA while a teacher at Mahurangi College.

Anette also works alongside Josie Whitehead, who has 10 years of local teaching experience.