Mum-of-two Natalie Pinnell said the offer to erase her daughter Erin, nine, from the class photos had devastated the family
A photography firm apologised to parents after it offered alternative class photos without children with “complex” needs.
Parents with children in Aboyne Primary School, Aberdeenshire, were stunned when children with additional needs were reportedly removed from one set of photos taken by a photographer employed by Cornwall-based Tempest Photography. Parents had been sent a link with two versions of the class photo to choose from.
“Recently, after capturing a class group photograph, one of our photographers took additional images of the class group which omitted some members of the class from the photograph.,” Tempest Photography said. “We deeply regret any upset this has caused and would like to sincerely apologise to the parents and children affected.
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“We are a family-run business and photograph at schools across the UK, and would like to reassure our customers that this is not standard procedure for our company and we are taking this matter very seriously. We are committed to implementing meaningful changes to prevent such an occurrence in the future.”
Mum-of-two Natalie Pinnell was stunned when she learned parents were being given the choice to remove her nine-year-old daughter, Erin, from the class photos. She said the decision had “devastated” the family.
The mum told the Press and Journal it felt like having her child “erased from history and told the paper: “I am absolutely heartbroken. Furious.”
She added: “A lot of the other parents have decided not to purchase their school photos in support. That means a lot. To give people the option to erase my daughter from history for the sake of optics is frankly inhumane. One of the cruellest things that I’ve ever experienced. Me and the other parents just feel devastated beyond belief.”
“You can’t erase them because they’re inconvenient,” the businesswoman told MailOnline. “It’s devastating to have your child be erased from a photo or give parents a choice whether she should or should not be included.
“She is the most beautiful human being. Who could do this? I’m grateful that she’s not aware of it because the damage that would do to her self-esteem would be devastating. But I’m having to tell my other daughter about what’s happening to her sister. I’m not sure I’m going to sleep tonight.”
Ms Pinnell said she would never use the company again and that it undermined the work of the primary school. She also described the incident as “painful” and called on other schools to cut ties with Tempest Photography.
A second parent, Lisa Boyd, also told the newspaper her daughter Lily, a wheelchair user, was removed from an alternative photo, with the nine-year-old’s twin sister devastated.
An Aberdeenshire Council spokesperson told The Mirror: “We are aware that following Aboyne Primary School’s recent school class photographs, links to purchase the pictures included images with and without complex needs provision pupils.
“Whilst this was not a decision taken by the school, we absolutely appreciate the distress and hurt this has caused some parents and carers and we are sincerely sorry. The issue has been taken up with the photography company directly as this is totally unacceptable. Aboyne is an inclusive school and every single child should be included, engaged and involved in their learning and school experiences.”
