Support for highly able children
British Mensa is able to provide support to parents and educators of highly able children through both our Gifted Child Consultant and our longstanding partnership with Potential Plus UK.
Gifted Child Consultant
Our Gifted Child Consultant, Lyn Kendall, works with Mensa to create support programmes and events for people living and working with highly able children. Her services include conducting one-to-one consultations, running workshops and summer schools for gifted children, and creating teaching materials for Gifted and Talented Coordinators. She has advised the DfE and local education authorities on their policies and has long worked with gifted children organisations.
Lyn, who is also a member of Mensa, has over 40 years’ experience working with children of all ages and intellects, focusing mainly on the fields of Special Educational Needs and Gifted and Talented Education. She holds a master’s degree in Special Needs and Inclusion, and is a qualified psychologist, a member of the British Psychological Society and a CBT practitioner.
Lyn provides advice and support for parents and professionals alike, as well as undertaking media work for programmes like Victoria Derbyshire and This Morning. She appeared regularly on Channel 4’s hit TV show Child Genius, where she collaborated with the production team behind the scenes as well as being a panellist.
Potential Plus UK
We work very closely with Potential Plus UK to represent the interests of children with high learning potential and to advocate for them on a wider stage.
The parents and carers of our members aged 18 and under are also eligible for free associate membership of Potential Plus, giving them access to an even wider range of events and resources. For more information, visit: www.potentialplusuk.org
Youth Membership
British Mensa has approximately 1,600 members under the age of 18. They are full members of the society, and are offered the same range of benefits as adult members – magazines and newsletters, and access to special interest groups and social events. The parents and carers of members under the age of 18 are also eligible for free associate membership of Potential Plus.
In addition, youth members are invited to our annual Future Paths Conference held at either Oxford or Cambridge University, which aims to demystify the process of Oxbridge applications and also includes inspirational seminars from motivational speakers. There are also a range of member-organised Family Mensa events held across the country.
To qualify for membership of Mensa, children aged over 10 and a half can sit our Supervised IQ test. Younger children need to be assessed by an educational psychologist to find out their IQ score, which can then be submitted via a Prior Evidence application.
Ways to identify highly able children
A highly able or ‘gifted’ child is normally identified as having a cognitive ability or IQ in the top 5% of the population. They may display some or many of the following behaviours:
- An unusual memory
- Passing intellectual milestones early
- Reading early
- Unusual hobbies or interests or an in-depth knowledge of certain subjects
- Intolerance of other children
- An awareness of world events
- Set themselves impossibly high standards
- May be a high achiever
- Prefers to spend time with adults or in solitary pursuits
- Loves to talk
- Asks questions all the time
- Learns easily
- Developed sense of humour
- Musical
- Likes to be in control
- Makes up additional rules for games
- May be either an extrovert or introvert
