To think I'm being ripped off?

Your not being unreasonable.
Lessons are alot. My son started In classes at 4.5 and was petrified. Hated the water, splashed on face and it was just horrendous. We struggled to find a teacher or class setting who understood him and then suddenly we got a teacher he clicked with, which then we went for 1-1 lessons with her. He swam 1-1 with her for 2 years and did stages 1-7. We then mutually agreed as his confidence had grown he no longer needed 1-1 and he joined a swim squad. It has been great, in my opinion money well spent and saved us in the long run .

A year? With lessons and not afraid of water? That’s ridiculous. Mine were swimming by the age of 2 , and 3 for #2, swimming lengths , and underwater, though the staff would make them prove it every time we went and I’d swim beside..I’d say we were the whale and her calf lol. Mine never had lessons. We took them as babies, moved away from the pool a while. When we had access to a pool, we started again. It took a visit to get them to float on their backs. They learned to tread water and practised swimming distance when we’d throw the goggles a couple of feet and they’d have to get them..so they weren’t thinking about sinking and their confidence grew very quickly. They did have armband at first but within a few visits, they were pretty much deflated ..a prop rather than actually doing anything. Soon discarded for comfort.

I guess it depends on the pool. Our lessons are in a pool where the non swimmer area is very shallow so the children are not given swim aids because they can stand if needed. They do use boards and noodles to practice specific parts but most of the lesson is done without. I can imagine if lessons are done in a deeper pool you can just trow the children in so that maybe the reason? However I would expect that after a year they could manage without aids especially in private lessons if the child/children have no big issue generating water...

Theres no reason for aided swimming lessons unless theres some issues with the child. The first level in swimming is always diving. Kids need to learn to dive and swim with their face under water to feel comfortable under water. That was level one course for both my kids. If they use a pool noodle they cant even put their head under water. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’ve just gone and checked holiday photos from when my two were six and neither are wearing armbands in the pool at that age. 5, yes, but not at 6 after a year of lessons.

That is all my children received in term time. We go away in the big holidays and they get plenty of pool time but fitting the limited public pool availability between school, homework, our jobs and other activities just isn’t possible. They still progressed very well and are excellent swimmers for their age

Can’t you teach him yourself? My teen couldn’t swim start of summer- she never took to it when younger. But wanted to go water parks with her friends. So we just spent two weeks going everyday and now she’s off going water parks by herself. I know mines older but perhaps he’d take better to you than lessons.

We had similar with some local swimming lessons. They have an obsession with using aides. Two at a time. Moved him and within a few lessons he did 5m unaided

Is there a pool near you that has steps going into it? Rather than the ladder?

If so it's a very easy way to start because the extra height helps them to push into swimming position. You stand a metre away and get him to try and swim to you. Then keep moving back until it's a couple of strokes.

I am surprised he can't swim at all. My daughter is 7 and missed all swimming lessons because of COVID and then local pool was shut for refurbishment. We used this method and she soon managed a decent doggy paddle.

She has now had four lessons (going in at higher level) and although her strokes need refinement she can swim multiple lengths

My kids have swim lessons in a similar set up. Neither are natural swimmers and have had to work hard at it. But my 5 year old has got her 25m badge and is more than confident in deep water with no aids. She just needs to improve her stroke style to get higher distance badges.

This is why he isn't progressing quickly, he needs to be going swimming in between lessons, to keep up the practice.

You wouldn't expect him to progress well at reading if all he did was ½ hour a week in school and nothing in-between.

That sounded like my youngest lessons. A year with aids! My husband said it was a ridiculous waste of money and time. We took them to a.swimming pool, and she was swimming without aids after 20 minutes! Wish I listened to him in the first place. Didn't need lessons at all!

If he’s not scared of the water and the teacher has had the luxury of small groups in the lessons, he should definitely have progressed more. DC1 (water confident) was able to swim unaided with head in after 2x4 day crash courses at the age of 5. Started regular swim lessons when they turned 6 and almost 8 now - they swim for the school and can swim multiple lengths of all 4 strokes. This was achieved in group lessons

DC2 was more scared of the water but developed a little confidence on a holiday when they were 4. I used the opportunity to put them in group swim lessons at 4.5. They are now 6 and swimming full lengths front crawl and back stroke, learning the rest.

Their swim school is definitely slower on giving the badges, eg they swim 25m length but receive 10m badge, assuming because technique isn’t perfect for all 25m but I’m not so bothered because the water confidence is there, they can do the things you describe on hols with ease - big slides landing in deep water, jumping off piers into sea etc

My daughter started in council run sessions (large classes) at 6.5 years old last summer. She is now on level 4 and can swim 25m unaided front and back. She was a complete non swimmer before that and was terrified of water. She is still not totally confident in water out of her depth but is getting better.

I would change classes personally, I would expect to see him swimming a few strokes unaided at least after a year of lessons!

Just to add - stop with woggles, floats, armbands etc and buy a shark fin float. It straps round the waste and holds your kid flat in the water so they can use both arms and legs freely and practice proper strokes. Plus they look like a shark, so that’s cool to a kid, and you can play Shark Attack.

My 6 year old DD has never had small group or 1:1 swimming lessons other than those provided at school. She was swimming unaided by the time she joined Reception (so she was 4).

She‘s now is her school’s age 7+ swim team and swims 20+ lengths each week.

I took her swimming at least twice a week from the age of 2, so she’s always been confident in the water.

Stop the lessons and take your child swimming, it’s more than enough.

Having said all the above, there are children in her class who still use a noodle or float. It’s not uncommon.

Also a lot of people think that their kid will progress by swimming for 15 mins in a half an hour lesson. Every parent needs to be taking their child for an extra ‘play’ at the local swimming pools to build their stamina and confidence. Don’t care for any excuses. Kids who attend football classes play football outside of that to practise so why is swimming different?

If he’s confidently putting his face in and floating on his front/back unaided, he should be learning to swim the swimming strokes by now. I work at a local council ran leisure centre that teaches swimming and we have always get (and always will) people coming from private swim school unhappy as they’re not progressing. We get kids claiming they’ve done their 800m but on their back kicking their legs 🤦‍♀️

I moved my sons swimming lessons to a different swimming pool because of this specifically - he was in stage 2 for soooo long and they refused to move him up because he couldn't do his arms or something. In the new pool he was put straight into stage 3 and then moved up to stage 4 quickly. After 4 months of being at the new pool he can now swim unaided totally. Obviously you have to watch him and I'd be nervous about him using the slides but still - you can sort of relax a little bit.....!!

We’ve experienced this. 6 yr old daughter made little progress in three months and we stepped in, changed the day to get another instructor and lo and behold she’s swimming unaided.

Go with your instincts here. It’s a waste of time for all otherwise.

My youngest was a bit older but she did private swimming lessons, 45 mins every other week for 18 months and went from non swimmer to swimming 800 metres. She started at 7. Older kids did the eleventy billion levels over what seemed like 8 years (but might have been 5 each) at the local leisure centre.

Mine are 8 and 3. Swimming lessons since 1.
the big one is doing 25 metres. Little one can swim for 8 seconds on his own at the moment.
we pay for lessons as we are not strong swimmers but want the kids to be.
No arm bands.
we work full time and having this 30 min lesson is ideal for us. We have to attend and it forces us to go. Rather than thinking we can wait until next week…..
Fed up of others saying lessons are a waste of money!!!! There is no right or wrong answer to how we live our lives. Kids grow up differently and at different levels.

I think you need to look else where. Some do free taster sessions. See how someone else teachers and see if that suits you. Ask on your local Facebook group for any classes that others have used.

Good luck.

Sounds bonkers to me. Both ours could swim a short way unaided by that age (one timid and one way too confident). Agree with PPs regarding swimming aids being a barrier to long term water confidence - saw this mistake w child #1 and didn't repeat with #2 (could somewhat explain the confidence etc). Early lessons should focus on water safety and moving/floating in water, esp how to get to the side and move along the side to a step or ladder (if they fall in). Then developing strokes. If you're not happy with progress, Move schools. Yes kids can plateau, but I'd expect progress in a year.
We're in Australia, so probably a bit different, but our system is probably based on UK (most things are 🙄). My kids are learning butterfly a lot earlier than I even did, but basics are the same