2026 Oxfordshire Virtual School Conference

Oxfordshire Virtual School: Driving Relational Practice

On Thursday 8th October, 160 delegates came together for Oxfordshire Virtual School’s annual conference. The theme was: Education as The Anchor: Building Stability and Futures for Every Child.

The day brought together national expertise, inspection insight, lived experience and frontline practice, with a clear shared message: relationships, belonging and stability matter profoundly for children and young people.

The focus throughout was on how education can act as an anchor, particularly for care-experienced children and children with a social worker, and how relational, connection-focused practice can create the safety children need to learn, belong and thrive.

And the work does not stop with the conference. Between now and the end of November, the Virtual School team will be undertaking training in Dyadic Developmental Practice (DDP).

DDP is a therapeutic approach based on the principle that the wounds created by early relational failure can only be healed through new relational experience. This approach is particularly effective for children and adolescents with histories of complex trauma and disordered attachment.

At its heart, DDP is about approaching children with playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy (PACE), recognising that connection and relational safety are not an optional extra, but fundamental to helping children experience stability, inclusion and hope.

If your school is keen to further develop relational practice, please send a member of staff on our PACE for School Staff training

This year's conference promoted curiosity in approach, empathy in leadership, belonging as protection, play as connection, inclusion as non-negotiable and relational safety as the bedrock.

Find out more about Oxfordshire Virtual School’s Driving Relational Practice conference (pdf, 5mb)

Thank you for your support and continued efforts to improve the lives of our most vulnerable children.

Clare Pike
Head of the Virtual School