Organisation of provision across a continuum

The BCRP used as an underpinning framework the universal, targeted and specialist tiered framework. This was introduced to the SLCN sector in the UK through the RCSLT Position Paper in 2006 and echoed the Response to Intervention model in the USA.³⁵  Tiered approaches are familiar to teachers as well as other specialists, for example the ‘Wave 1,2,3’ approach to teaching strategies.

From a commissioning perspective, it is important to have a clear understanding of the distinction between

• a tiered approach to describing children and their needs,
• a tiered approach to describing interventions and
• a tiered approach to describing the skills and competences of the workforce delivering support

In practice, children and young people can have varying needs and benefit from interventions at different levels simultaneously.

Figure 6, below, illustrates these three distinct tiered approaches.  The lines across the diagram show a range of potential scenarios where for example, a child with a complex profile might achieve their outcomes best through targeted intervention; a child with a less complex need might achieve their outcome through a time focused specialist interventions; and training for the universal workforce to benefit all children might best achieve the desired outcome when delivered by a specialist practitioner.