Would really appreciate your opinions.
My dd1 is almost 8, in year 3. She's been having problems on and off for a while with one particular girl in her class, and lately it has been getting worse to the point of dd often being upset in the evenings and saying things like she feels she doesn't fit in at school and is often alone.
The girl in question is nothing like any child I have ever met before. She is unbelievably confident and you feel like you're talking to an adult when she talks to you. She's definitely the ringleader and struts around the playground with her groupies walking slightly behind her. She has one particular friend who seems to be the constant sidekick and the other girls seem to go in and out of favour. I think almost everyone finds her bossy and most do what she says. The problem is that my dd has always stood up to her and doesn't always do what she says. I'm really proud of her for that, but it seems that little miss ringleader has got wind of this and is excluding her more and more and telling others to do the same, like some kind of professional power struggle!
To complicate the matter further her mum is a teacher in the school. I know and like the mum. I did try to talk to her about it once but she dismissed it saying "That's just girls, you have to just ignore them."
Is that true? Am I making a big deal out of this or is something more going on?