bullying between so-called 'friends'

[sunglasses]

My dd age 7 and in year 3 has been having trouble with her friendship group of 2 other girls since year 1. There has always been the usual bickering and falling out which we have talked to her about and tried to get her to sort through it with her friends herself. Lately, since the start of Year 3 things have escalated to a situation where they have been regularly falling out. My daughter has realised that they are not really good friends to have. They can be quite possessive over my DD, not letting her play with other children, following her everywhere even to the loo!. We have spoken to the teacher who has spoken to them all together and we have advised DD to separate from them for a while and see if things improve. The other girls are not letting my DD do this and are now hounding her all the time, getting really cross if she says she wants to play alone or with other children. Things have turned physical and they are kicking her, threatening to 'mess with her', sending insulting notes to her etc. She has been v upset about it all but lately has been talking things through with us a lot and has been quite pragmatic about it, asserting herself verbally and saying she is not scared of them but that she wants to be left alone. I have asked the teacher to speak to both the other girls parents to make them aware of what is happening but other than that am clueless what to do. Any advice?

[frazzledbutcalm]

Tell the teacher this is bullying and it is their job to stop it. Ask for a copy of their bullying policy. Tell them if the policy is not adhered to you will take this further. My school was fantastic over the past few months with dd over a similar issue. Some teachers may not see it as bullying, but even 'just' name calling is classed as bullying if it happens daily and is deliberate to hurt the other person.

[Kenlee]

I had this with a really clingy kid with my DD. It was solved by the school seperating them into different classes. Therefore , DD was able to make new friends. DD now has a new set of friends and is happy. They are even planning a leaving party for her as she will leave for boarding this September.