Firm sorry after photos omit children with special needs

A PHOTOGRAPHY firm has “sincerely” apologised to parents after they were offered primary school class pictures that omitted pupils with special needs.

Parents whose children attend Aboyne Primary in Aberdeenshire were horrified after being sent a link from Tempest Photography offering them a choice of pictures, with or without children with additional support needs.

The firm, which is based in Cornwall but employs local photographers to take school photos across the UK, said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter: “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. We deeply regret any upset this has caused and would like to sincerely apologise to the parents and children affected.”

It is understood some class photos were taken before the pupils with additional support needs were brought in.

The company removed the link to the alternative versions of the class photos at the request of the school.

Natalie Pinnell, whose daughter Erin was among those excluded from the photos, told the Press and Journal: “To give people the option to erase my daughter from history for the sake of optics is frankly inhumane.” Lisa Boyd told the newspaper her nine-year-old daughter Lily, a wheelchair user, was removed from a photo.

Aberdeenshire council emphasised it was not the school’s decision. A spokesman said that “Aboyne is an inclusive school and every single child should be included”. Terence Tempest, 70, one of the company’s bosses, told the Daily Mail: “It’s just unacceptable, I don’t know what’s happened. It’s certainly not a policy of ours. We had a crisis meeting this morning, we are having another one this afternoon. Of course I understand how upset the families must be, I would be too.”

Nine-year-old Erin was omitted from a photo, her mother Natalie Pinnell said