forced to be friends

[confusedeasterbunny]

I could do with some advice please.
My DD is in Y5 in a mixed Y5/6 class and most of her friends are y6.A new girl (S), who DD knows started at school.She is a Y4 and in a different class.Because DD is the only girl she knew well the teachers wanted DD to take her under her wing.Which she did.However this girl is very immature,loud ,hyper and rather 'strange' (i think she is probably extremely intelligent and she hasn't a ,mean bone in her body).
Fast forward a term and this girl is always with DD and her friends (her friends find S extremely annoying (she is)) and she doesn't seem to be making any attempt to make her own friends.If DD ever wants to play without S she goes and tells the teachers and DD gets into trouble.This happens every break and lunchtime. While I know that it isn't nice to have no one to play with, I don't think it is fair on DD to be expected to babysit her every playtime, it's creating a rift between DD and her friends and DD is beginning to dread playtime)

YANBU - the school is taking the easy way out and not meeting this girls social needs, but just getting your DD to "plug the gap"

I think you should arrange a meeting with the Classteacher/Head and calmly explain how although your DD wants to be kind to this girl, it is too much to ask of her to be withe her at every playtime. They need to support the girl to make new friends - partiularly those in her class. Have they heard of "Circle of Friends"?

What is 'circle of friends'

Our school has a friend bus stop in the playground and it seems to work okay. When there were previously friendship issues with a girl who had a tendency to be mean the girls took it in turns to play with her - one day each at a time but she got one warning and a 2nd incidence that playtime and they didn't have to play with her anymore.

Took a few months but it did work and the girl's social skills improved.

These are examples of how other schools handle/manage playtime/social skills issues.

Circle of Friends