Do you encourage certain friendships for your child? Is this ok?

[Wishfulmakeupping]

Feels like a grey area I suppose- dd started school in sept took a long time to settle in but she’s finding her feet. She was playing with a lovely group of girls very well behaved and kind they would always let dd join in so she wasn’t alone. They’ve been great at helping dd build her confidence up socially at school.
She’s started playing with other friends now and it really shows in her behaviour. She’s also less happy on the days she’s played with her new friends.
Should I be encouraging her to play with her old friends or is this controlling? My main goal is for dd to be happy at school but if she could be happy and well behaved that would be fab!
Do you encourage certain friendships?

Yes I have encouraged friendships in the past and discouraged others - based on happiness of the children.

Could you perhaps arrange an out of school play date with the old friendship group?

I have got a couple play dates over easter with the old group.
It’s difficult as dd probably does enjoy playing with the new group at the time but it’s very ‘in and out’ so she does say things like ‘hope they will let me play with them again tomorrow’ so it’s playing on her mind. That and her behaviour goes downhill