‘You’ve erased my girl from history’: Mothers’ fury after photo firm offers to DELETE disabled children from class photo, with a youngster in a wheelchair among those removed from school picture

Mums have been left furious after a photography company offered to remove disabled children and those with additional support needs from class photos.

Three children from Aboyne Primary School in Scotland were removed from images sent via an internet link, giving parents the option to order a photo without them being in it.

Businesswoman and mother-of-two Natalie Pinnell, 38, told MailOnline that the decision to leave her nine-year-old daughter Erin out of her class photo had ‘devastated’ their family.

She described the decision by Cornwall-based Tempest Photography as ‘inhumane’ and said her child had been ‘erased from history’. The company says it is investigating.

Mrs Pinnell said: ‘You can’t erase them because they are a nuisance. It’s just not okay.

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‘It’s devastating to have your child erased from a photo or to give parents the choice of whether or not she can be in the photo.

‘She is the most beautiful person. Who could do this?

‘I’m grateful she isn’t aware of it because the damage it would do to her self-esteem would be devastating.

“But I have to tell my other daughter what’s happening to her sister. I’m not sure I’m going to sleep tonight.’

Natalie, who runs a business management and strategy firm in Aboyne, said after she received an email from the school with two photo links: one with her daughter and one without.

Another class with a disabled girl in a wheelchair also had two photos: one with the schoolgirl and one without.

Natalie added: “I checked with the school and they checked with the photographer. He said, ”Yes, that’s what we did.”

‘It is the most traumatic experience we have had as a family.

‘I really wanted to believe there was another reason. I tried to look for a reason why someone would have made that decision.

‘We have mourned. We hurt. It feels like I haven’t even reached the bottom of my shock yet. It’s been absolutely devastating.

‘The worst part was when I spoke to a friend about what had happened and she discovered there were two connections for her daughter.’

Natalie said the school, which has a special additional needs centre, had vowed never to use the company again.

She added: “It was hard to process as a family. As a mother, I want to stand up for her, and for people to think she is erasable is incredibly devastating.

‘It is incomprehensible to give parents the choice of whether or not to involve one individual child, because it does not fit in.’

The 38-year-old said it “undermines” all the school’s work.

While the school apologized to Natalie, it wanted to emphasize that “it is not the school’s fault” and also praised the “outpouring of love and support” from the community.

She said parents had rallied behind her and there is now only one version of the image available for purchase.

Still, she worries whether the company will still send the version without her daughter to parents who ordered it.

The ‘painful’ experience has left her feeling ‘vulnerable’ and she says she ‘wholeheartedly supported’ the call for schools to cut ties with Tempest.

She said: ‘This company has a very large share in the exploitation of school photos.

“I cannot allow another family to experience the pain we experienced, that other parents may or may not include our daughter.

“Many parents in the community have decided not to purchase the photos.

‘I’d like some answers. It’s very painful (and) disturbing. What will (Tempest) do to rectify this? What will the authorities do with the contract?’

Natalie wasn’t the only mother outraged by the shocking decision.

Lisa Boyd’s nine-year-old daughter Lily Nicolson, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, was also left out of one of the class photos along with another boy.

She said: ‘This is clear discrimination and should not happen in a school or anywhere else.

‘It’s the worst Lily has been treated in her entire life. The school is so inclusive that Lily is involved in everything the school does.

‘Her twin sister, Iona, is in a different class and I only have one photo for that class, but I have two for Lily’s – one without my child in it. It’s terrible.’

Ms Boyd said the reason the photographer initially gave to the school was that it could take some time to get some children focused.

Aberdeenshire Council last night said it had discussed the matter with Tempest Photography, the company responsible.

The council said the decision to provide images ‘with and without students with complex needs’ was not made by the school.

A spokesperson said: ‘We absolutely appreciate the distress and pain this has caused some parents and carers and we are sincerely sorry.

‘The matter has been discussed directly with the photography company as this is completely unacceptable.’

Tempest was contacted but told BBC Scotland it was investigating the matter and would make no comment at this stage.