Do they still?

[Ohfrigginghellers]

Sit pupils in tables of two at high school?
I never liked it as you could end up sitting on your own if uneven numbers even if you are friends with people.

BlackeyedSusan
We meet a few of them! They're not bad kids, just chatty and sometimes need a bit of a nudge to know when to be quiet and focus.

Lots goes into making a good seating plan. We don't always get it perfect all the time but there's good intentions because we want them all to do well.

My sympathies are with the OP. My DD is quiet and well behaved; she sat on her own frequently in yr 7 & 8 because she didn’t complain & I didn’t know. It can be isolating for pupils. Yes, she was included in group work, but that’s not the OP’s main point , which is that this sitting alone exacerbated her sense of isolation. When I realised what was going on I emailed her teachers separately and asked for her to have someone to sit next to. Most teachers were happy to help and just hadn’t seen the problem as DD seemed content. She is in yr 9 now and a bit more confident, it hasn’t been an issue this school year.