Worried DD is struggling to make friends starting school

[Toomuchtooyoung01]

DD has just started in reception class at primary school. The majority of children in her class seem to already know each other (I think from nursery and also there is a large estate nearby)
Although we live close to the school, our friends are about half an hour away and none of DD’s nursery friends have gone to the same school as her.

DD is super friendly and often iniaties play with other children when we are out, however I have noticed that in the playground whenever she approaches the children in her class to join in with what they’re doing, they quite gleefully run off in their little trios and leave her standing there. It’s hard for me to watch as her mum and makes me wonder what the rest of her day is like there.
When I’ve asked her about her day, every question is answered with “I don’t know” (which I’ve heard is quite normal) she hasn’t really mentioned any children’s names in conversation whereas after nursery she would tell me in detail how she played this with this child/played that with that child. At nursery she was very popular and on arrival several children would run up to greet her and play, she was always invited to parties etc and her teachers would tell me how the other children gravitated towards her because she is so fun and just generally a lovely kid (she honestly is).
One little girl this morning looked so pleased with herself skipping away from DD, I could just tell she was enjoying the opportunity to leave her out.
What do I do about this? The other mums in the playground are equally cliquey, they literally stand in a circle so short of shimmying my way into the middle of it I’m not sure how to “make school mum friends” with them either!

I know it's hard but it's early days. I would give her time, she will find her way and make friends. It's your job to be supportive and build her up at home but this is a beneficial opportunity for her to figure things out herself.

I remember my eldest was the same when she started, I thought she would find it easy as she had attended nursery full time since being 18 months old and was very confident there. It's a big change for them but a very normal transition.

I think this is what happens when you send your child to a different school from their nursery friends, it’s normal for kids to want to play with people they are friends with or know, it’s early days so I would just see how it goes. If they mostly all know each other including the parents then it will be more difficult

It's really early days. See how it goes over the next few weeks. Established friendship groups are not suddenly going to include her but they will get to know each other better in class as well as playtime. Friendships shift and change all the time.
Ask different questions. Don't ask 'how was your day' try something very specific and maybe a bit more child friendly 'what was the funniest thing today' 'what was the most annoying thing that happened'

Gosh, that took me back to when my child started school. They didn’t know anyone else when they started and had never had any problems before making friends and playing.
It was very evident in their class that most of the children came from 2 nurseries and those children happily played with each other but didn’t seem to know how to make new friends or play with others they didn’t already know. Unfortunately their parents and teachers weren’t ever encouraging them to play with others either.

Yes it was heartbreaking I won’t lie. I decided in the end to look for which other children this was also happening to and managed to strike up a conversation with their mums after school and our children at least had each other to play with. I also found local dance classes which helped a lot and they made lovely friends there.

Over the years I I did notice the children all naturally made their own friends rather than the forced friendships many seemed to have at the start. I know it feels horrible now but it does get better

It's hard. When I left Primary school and went to secondary school I was the only one who went from my primary and most of the children knew each other from the other primary school or they were related (it was a small secondary with around 500 total).

It did take time for me to my friends but I got there eventually, give it time and see how she goes