It is essential that schools and families are confident that their children know how to be safe and responsible users of the Internet. This expectation has been reinforced by the 2019 DFE guidance on online safety education. The latest KCSIE requirements also show that schools must be educating children on safely managing online relationships in areas such as the creation and sharing of nudes.
The OSA Certificate of Online Safety provides valid and tangible evidence that your pupils have received and understood how to stay safe online, what to do if things go wrong, and what the possible consequences of bad choices could be. It has been mapped against the new DFE guidance to ensure it supports you in covering all necessary elements.
Pupils complete the OSA Certificate of Online Safety online. Each unit comprises a range of learning materials including animated videos, interactive presentations and summary documents followed by an on-screen assessment. Pupils are also directed to important advice from the likes of ChildLine and ThinkUKnow. Motivation is maintained through these activities as pupils earn badges and work through levels by completing tasks.
Assessments are based on the preceding learning materials and include a range of short-answer and multiple choice questions. Pupils can attempt each test as many times as needed if they fail to reach the pass mark and will receive guidance on where they went wrong to develop their online safety knowledge. We provide a teacher account to allow you to monitor the progress of your pupils.
What is covered?
Units in the Certificate include online bullying, grooming (including radicalisation), sexting, safe use of smartphones, digital footprints, live streaming, gaming, reporting of concerns and more. The KS5 course also has a greater focus on the issues young people are facing when they move on from school to University or employment. The new courses include enhanced levels of interactivity, updates to online safety issues covered and a greater focus on helping children to deal with mental health issues.
To ensure age-appropriate content there are different levels of the Certificate available; Key Stage 3 (11-14), Key Stage 4 (14-16) and KS5 (16+). A staff CPD course and a course for parents are also available and available at no additional cost as part of the package.
How long does it take to complete?
This depends on the method of delivery. Some schools opt to allow their pupils to work independently through the Certificate in lessons and home learning. In such cases most pupils are able to complete it within 3 hours.
Some schools prefer to use a more teacher-led approach to delivering the Certificate. Although this results in the Certificate taking longer to complete (usually around 5 hours), this method provides opportunities for class discussion and development of deeper understanding.
What are existing users saying?
Tens of thousands of children in secondary schools and PRUs across England have undertaken the OSA Certificate of Online Safety.
In end-of course evaluations, 95.6% of pupils have stated that they now know more about how to keep themselves safe online than they did before undertaking the OSA Certificate of Online Safety.
The feedback we have received from both students and parents has been extremely positive and as a school we now have clear evidence that students have completed this additional online safety learning.
Assistant Headteacher, Weald of Kent Grammar School
We have been very successful in delivering the OSA to our two year groups of years 7 and 8. I found the delivery clear to follow with good resources to help explain each topic.
Head of Computing, Kingsbury High School
Can I get trial access?
We would be happy to provide access to a trial account to allow you to take a closer look at the Certificate and how the system works. Simply send us a message using the contact form below. Please also contact us if you have any further questions.
Sign up today
If you are ready to join the increasing numbers of schools safeguarding pupils through use of the OSA Certificate of Online Safety, please use the following PayPal button to pay by card or complete the contact form below to request an invoice.
The setup cost for each school is just £299. Further price reductions are available for SEN settings with limited numbers and for schools looking to undertake the Certificate with limited year groups.
To reduce administrative costs so that we can continue to minimise costs to schools, we are this year asking schools to use the secure PayPal link below. In addition to payment through PayPal accounts this will also allow payments by credit / debit card.
