To feel a bit embarrassed my nearly four year old is in a class with two year olds!

OP I can understand, my son also wasn't making progress at about the same age (probably a bit older in fact) and I eventually paid for a holiday intensive course and he got there. I think he needed more individual attention than was available in the classes. I'd definitely advise getting some private lessons just to get him over the hump and able to swim, then rejoin the appropriate group class. But I think lots of 4 year olds can't swim independently so nothing to worry about.

Agree with this. Mine took ages to learn to swim but with hindsight I started them too early in group lessons where they just didn’t progress. I did private lessons in the end at a swim tank place that focused on technique, they both learned to swim v quickly then, not to any particular standard but just so they’d be safe.

I read something once about how most children tend to catch up with each other in terms of swimming or riding a bike by about 7. That was definitely true for mine, couldn’t do either at 4 but both fine by year 3-4.

I know how you feel though OP I remember when my youngest started reception and everyone’s child seemed to be whizzing around on 2 wheels and doing full on front crawl in the pool!

Do you take him swimming at other times or is it only for lessons. Try taking him to other swimming sessions with you so he has the chance to practice the skills that you have seen him being taught. As with many physical things , riding a bike, kicking a ball, skipping etc it is often practice and confidence that leads to mastering the activity.

I decided not to do weekly swimming lessons with mine and do a few sets of intensive lessons (I don’t work in school hols so was easy for me)

I would take them swimming a few times a month when they were younger and then did two sets of intensive lessons of 1/2 hour everyday for a week. My son swam first then was my daughters turn straight after.

They were 1 adult to 3 kids, and they were swimming really well quickly.

I think I did October hols and then Feb hols.

What do the class teachers say about how he's doing? If they aren't concerned then I wouldn't be worried - he's still only little himself. If they think he's not 'getting it' in that class, could you ask them for advice on how to progress more?

Good Lord!
My DD went weekly for 10 years and still sank like a stone. We tried every class within a 15 mile radius. Some kids are just shit at swimming .
She surfs now but we seriously nearly gave up.

Look for an alternative OP. Your DC won’t make much progress with toddlers who are just starting.
There is no hurry though OP . My DC had a break with lessons due to Covid and started again at 6 . The teacher had floats on their back with a little belt. Concentrated on putting faces in water and breathing. Within weeks our non swimmer was doing 25m .
A slightly older child and good teacher getting the level right makes much better progress.

I never learned to swim in lessons. Hated them. My dad took me to the local pool and persevered in encouraging me to swim… one day I just finally got it. I think I was eight or nine. I don’t think group lessons work for everyone.

£70 for 2hrs swimming!

You could join a club for far less than that if you plan to go every week.

David lloyd is £210 a month for my family of four. Indoor pool and heated outdoor one plus all the gym/ spa facilities/ kids clubs etc.

I'm also in the Midlands. Not a posh part but not a cheap part.

My now 14 year old has dyspraxia and we had years and years of lessons up until he was about 10 and he could not even get his feet off the ground. I spent literally 100s of pounds on it.

He can now swim, but is still a weak swimmer. What changed is that I started going to family fun splash sessions at the weekend where we just flopped around with bouyancy aids and balls and had fun. Then a summer holiday where there was a pool and he just all of a sudden 'got it'. He is still not a strong swimmer but at least he can actually swim now. I think the key was waiting for his coordination abilities to develop. (He still can't tie shoelaces).

He is probably too young to realize. Try to find an intensive course (every day for a fortnight) as this is by far the quickest way to learn.

Way better to be four with a class of two year olds, than ten with a class of five year olds. Or have the danger/embarrassment of not being able to swim.

whkst It’s great that some two year olds are being taken to swim lessons I don’t think you need to be embarrassed .
its good that she’s doing it now, and that you are taking her to classes.
she will be receptive to learning and perhaps strong so will advance well.
either way it’s good to have lessons .

my daughter swims in the pool all summer, but at4/5 flat out refused to go to a class, she is nervous about being away from me.
now she is 6 she is ready to do lessons.

she goes to ice skating lessons. There are 5 year olds and 14/15 year olds in the same class.

I think it shows resilience in he older kids that they are prepared to learn with younguns.

it’s a skill, you need to learn it with other who are learning it too.

If your class is a bit like water babies then its purpose is not really to teach them to swim but to get them to not fear the water.
Now he’s 4 he’s ready to move up to a class without you. That’s the way to learn to swim. You need to let go, recognise he’s grown up (your embarrassment is telling you this) and get him signed up. The teacher takes them across one at a time (no armbands) holding them whilst they are on their backs at the start. None of them could swim when my DS and DD started the class age 4 including them. They too had been going to the pool with me from weeks old and couldn’t yet swim.
it all sounds completely normal except the bit where you are not ready to move on to letting him go to a class without you.

My now grown up children all swim like fishes but they didn't learn to swim until they were at school. I took them swimming a lot when they were tiny and they were all very confident in the water, they would "swim" under the water, no armbands or flotation devices but they didn't learn to swim properly at the baby/toddler/preschool classes I paid for. They just sort of bumbled around in the water. The school they went to had swimming lessons from reception and they all just learnt then. Different set up, different teachers. Perhaps see if there's a different class that may have a different approach.

Agree with PPs saying to find a different swimming school. It sounds as if your DS has outgrown the "toddler swimming and water play with parent in water" classes and is ready for something more structured and challenging. Look for a swimming school with a good local reputation (try local Facebook parent groups for reviews) where the groups are small and the instructor is in the water with them at all times. They usually start from 3.5 and your DC will not be expected to have anything other than perhaps some basic water confidence (i.e. is willing to get in and join in rather than panicking and screaming for you, no need for any actual swimming skills at all). He sounds like he enjoys the water, which is a good start.

My little boy is 3 and in the same position- for us it’s convenient him going at the same time as his little sister and it’s the first class of the day. He’s not really interested in swimming but loves being in the pool and playing the games- who cares if other kids can swim independently, it’s about confidence in the water and having fun for us!

I'd be shopping around for another pool or complaining to my MP.

Out local pool in a very expensive part of the country costs £22 for a family of four to swim. And if you do swim lessons at the pool you can swim for free as often as you like.

My son's swim teacher said she could tell which children swam in between lessons and which didn't

Does he pay attention?
One of my children learnt to swim, but then would not move up from level 2... He was very easily distracted and wouldn't be paying attention to the teacher. After a year of no improvement I moved him to private 1:1 lessons and he then progressed super fast and enjoyed it more.

We found private lessons seemed to be about water confidence so we switched to council ones and my DS learned to swim there. It was notable that my youngest didn't do any private classes and went straight to council at 5 or 6 and learned in the same time as my oldest once we switched him (after going to private ones since being tiny)

I couldnt swim until i was 13. Not everyone can get on with it or the technique right. I still hate having my face in water now. Let the little one go at his own pace.

This was my dc
I then changed swim school
Turns out my dd is just shit at swimming 😂 We go three times a week... She can swim relatively independently now but is significantly worse than her peers and in at least one stage below.
It does feel embarrassing for me, which isn't very fair on my child.

We had this. Then we rented a holiday place i France one summer with a swimming pool. Three days and they had their water legs. Turns out it was more about confidence and having fun.

That's insanely expensive 😳

Don't worry too much about it. Learning to swim is the important thing!

My son didn't get to start swimming lessons until he was 9 and he was put in a class with 3 and 4 year olds. It was the right 'skill level ' for him though and I think he actually quite liked being with the much younger group. I felt bad for a few weeks I'll admit, but he wasn't worried in the least.

He's an adult now, and he was in his schools swim team at secondary school and is a very strong swimmer.