Daughter has not made any friends

It’s early days. May get shot down but check she has the “right” bag / skirt / coat / hair etc. Sadly seems to matter at that age. Work on her confidence. Both mine worked through several friendship groups which settled in years 8/9.

If the children from your DD's primary school have told her that they don't want to be friends with her, then I would wonder if there is more going on. Are they telling others not to be friends with her?
I would definitely email the head of year and let him know and also refer to the fact that hanging out with those she knows from primary isn't an option as they appear to be avoiding her. The head of year & pastoral team can then keep an eye on things and see if they can suggest something.
DD had a complicated start to secondary with a lot of absences which meant she struggled to settle down. DD thought it was just a coincidence that the Head of Year would appear just before lunch time to check what people's plans were for lunch time. When he got to my DD he's breezily say something like "there's so much going on. What are you going to do? That club with that person; that other club with that other person, go to the canteen with that group" and so on and essentially force the issue. By Christmas, she had a solid group of friends.

Same with my dd she is autistic and struggles massively to make friends. All the other girls seem to have paired up already so she is alone. I've asked her form tutor for some help but it's heartbreaking.

My Dd had the same. She has never really made friends (very tough crowd) beyond a couple of short lived friendships and I will move her for a levels to a larger school where she can find her tribe. Hopefully it won’t be the same for your child but it can happen so also consider strengthening or creating out of school activities and friendships

My daughter went to a secondary school where she knew nobody and they had to go away to camp in week 2! Sounded like a nightmare to me but the school assigned them to cabins and activities to mix them up and it worked like a dream, she came back with a friendship group.

I would definitely get the school involved but ask them to be discreet.

I remember holding my crying son (7 maybe at the time) telling him I know it’s hard but I promise it will get better and he will make friends, even though I didn’t know what would happen. He did eventually make friends but it’s a heartbreaking thing

My son has gone to a secondary with no one from his large primary. Just had a new-mail today to say he is 22 on the wait list for the school all his friends went to - just a short distance pushed us so much further down the list. He is autistic and less mature than his peers and also has ADHD which causes him to display his emotions very openly - he has cried at break and in class several times.
He also told me he was alone every break and lunch, even if he got talking to kids in class, he didn’t feel confident to approach them at break. I was in a WhatsApp group for parents of year 7 kids at the school and I asked if anyone else’s child was suffering. Some parents suggested sharing photos of our children and one mum showed her son my son’s photo and the next day he went up to my son at break, introduced himself and invited him to join him and his friends! He also spent the lunch break with them too. He came out of school that day so happy saying he “had made some friends”.
I also e-mailed his form tutor and explained that school needed to her involved to help him make friends, I’m not sure what they’ve been doing, I know some teachers approached him at break and tried to encourage him to join some boys to play football, but he felt too intimidated to join them. Break time clubs is a great opportunity, assuming they have some and they are of interest to your daughter.
I hope she gets talking to some others this week - it is so heartbreaking when they tell you they spend break alone.

There are a few from her primary school, but they were in a different form, and they point blank told her that they didn’t want to be her friends
Oh your poor DD, that's just horrible.
Op a couple of years ago my dd was in a similar situation. I spoke to the pastoral team, not sure exactly what or how they did it, but within a week dd had a couple of friends to start hanging out with at lunchtimes. She now has a pose of four mates, which means if one of the girls is off sick, no one's left on their own.
So either suggest your dd talks to pastoral team, or if she's too shy, drop them an email.

I would tell the school but it really does depend on the school. My DDs wouldn’t have done much, she’s actually just left after 5yrs and hasn’t got any friends from school. Yes people to nod at but no actually friends. She survived school certainly didn’t thrive there, unfortunately some kids don’t. So she put her energy into out of school activities and has friends through those and now started at a new college for Alevels where she knew no one. I would try the school clubs if they have them and focus on stuff outside school as well.

I would try not to make too big a thing of it - it's not going to happen straight away and will take time.

For DS starting to go to some special interest clubs at lunchtime helped - he has ADHD and is not very mature for his age so we were worried, but he found 3 or 4 good friends by the end of Y7.

I've been a head of year 7. I would email her form tutor and let them know how she's feeling. Copy in the head of year so they are aware. Be honest and let them know she doesn't want to have a fuss made of her and it's making her reluctant to tell staff how she's feeling. Ask them if they will discreetly talk to a mature student in the form (who looks like a good friendship match) who can invite her for lunch. Ask if there are any lunch time clubs and if so can the form tutor take her to the first session she goes to to help her have the courage to go. The head of year will know the other girls that are feeling the same (your dd will not be the only one) so ask if they can they be introduced by the head of year/ form tutor asking them to do something together like a poster display or an activity that will get them talking. Heads of year 7 nearly fully focus on friendship issues for the first term, it's a typical transition problem that is usually solved through gentle introductions between the various students in the year group. It's really common in the early weeks of year 7 for students to feel lonely, it does get easier and the students do settle. If she likes reading encourage her to go to the library - you might find she meets a kindred spirit there.

I think you should be contacting the Head of Year. They would rather that emailed / phoned them than letting a child struggle on when they can help.

I’m sorry your DD is going through this. It’s a hard thing to watch as a parent. Hopefully things will get better x

It’s hard but you gotta override her and parent. poor her and poor you.

Hopefully they will have lunchtime clubs which means she won’t be alone and will slowly make friends.

Speak to the school tomorrow, insist on a phone chat with the head of pastoral care and a plan.

@Pammela2 that is so lovely and thoughtful. This is why teachers need to know. Ds1 had an amazing head of year, well all of them really but they had a day where off site where they deliberately split up primary friendship groups to allow everyone a chance to meet someone new. I have never forgotten that and Ds1 is now 20.

I would contact her FT just to let her know how your dd is feeling - Ive been a head of year in the past and would want to know to support her in school. It could even be small, discrete supports.

I would contact the school but ask for it to be kept on the down low.

I am a teacher and I purposefully try to make specific groups for tasks to encourage new links or have a little word in some nice and friendly kids ears to encourage them to chat to someone who is quieter.

Kids usually find their own way though and there will be other children who are quiet and waiting for a new friend too. It’s rough though.

Ds2 went to a school that no one from his primary went to. At breaks and lunch he decided he would walk round the playground rather than sit because sitting made him look alone whereas walking he could be walking to friends. Some lad saw him walking and asked what he was doing, he said just walking around because I don't know anyone, that was the start of a beautiful friendship. They have been mates ever since and they are now in year 13!

Maybe walking round would be better for her than sitting alone. Sadly they do need to try to put themselves out there. Kids talk about all sorts, maybe she could pick something she watches and see if anyone else has watched it.

@Annaishere I agree with you to some extent but I'd give it more time I'd I was OP.

@Dacadactyl the thing is at that age they make friends through mixing groups partly made up of their primary school friends, and OPs DD doesn’t have one

@Annaishere I think that moving schools is a very drastic option when the child has only been in the school for a fortnight!