What is Top of the Class Photography (TOTC)?
Top of the Class Photography was set up for Westbury Park Primary School and exists to undertake and manage the schools photography needs. This primarily means the class group photos taken in the summer and the individual class photos taken in the autumn. Many school photography firms rely on the schools office staff to undertake the administration of these events which is hugely time consuming for the school and take staff away from the roles they are being paid to do. With this in mind an automated online system was set up to take all orders, payment and administration away from the school office. It delivers the final product direct to your door. This has been hugely successful for the school and means staff can focus on their primary roles without all the extra time the old system brought them. It also means that not only does the school directly benefit from every image sold but it is supporting a local, independent business too.
Why can't the school handle the admin like in the good old days?
Simply because it takes too long - please see above. The office staff are busy enough without undertaking the huge administration involved in the collation and distribution of this task. This takes them away from their primary focus of running the school which is their full time role.
My code isn't working?
Please ensure you are entering the correct code and any autocorrection isn't separating out what it thinks are words. There are NO spaces between letters/numbers. e.g: therearenospacesinanyofthepasscodes
Sometimes, especially after parents have just received their codes, there is a surge in visits and the site slows down. This very occasionally results in an error message saying the code doesn't work/is incorrect please try later (or similar). If you get this and you've double checked your code input is correct (see above) then please make a cup of tea and try again later.
Can I be resent the code?
Yes. For safeguarding reasons you have to go via the school office who can text/email you your code
I entered the wrong code too many times and have been locked out. What do I do?
The system locks you out after a number of failed attempts. You will have to wait approx 1 hour before you can try again. In the meantime please check your passcode. (See above)
Why is shipping not included in the price of the photo?
Neither TOTC or Westbury Park Primary School have any say over the shipping arrangements and do not benefit in any way from the shipping costs. Shipping is calculated when your order is complete and depends on what is in your order. (You can calculate shipping cost before payment). We continue to discuss shipping options/cost with the suppliers.
Shipping Issue EDIT/UPDATE APRIL 2025
Last year a pattern started emerging that some specific orders - almost always a 12x8 print in a luxury slip in mount - shipped with 'Royal Mail Special Delivery' were being sent back to the print lab as 'Unclaimed' or "Undelivered' by the postie delivering them. They are supposed to leave a card and\or try redelivery, it appears they didn't do either. After several discussions with the Post Office, who were adamant all procedures had been followed, they said that any delivery card omissions would be dealt with as follows; "The manager will investigate your complaint and take the appropriate steps to prevent this happening again. Please allow up to 72 hours for these investigations to be completed". So, in theory, it should be resolved.
If it continues, and as soon as the print lab makes me aware an order has been returned to them, I'll get the order sent directly to school instead where a member of staff will pass it on to you. This is not ideal but the workaround has worked. Thank you for your patience if you were affected. A reminder that this is only on orders shipped as SPECIAL DELIVERY and should now be resolved.
Could we save on shipping?
Whilst we do not endorse or recommend any particular course of action, a suggestion to potentially save on shipping may be to to do a central order per class. For example: A nominated person takes your order and money then places a single order for each class/year group. Then there is only one shipping cost spread among you. Please note, we are not responsible for any mistakes/errors in the orders and you will have to sort it out between you - which may of course entail re-ordering and bearing the subsequent cost. Any discount code and gallery availability remains the same so make sure you are prompt with your order before either expire. NB: Please do not involve the teachers, classroom assistants, any of the office staff or TOTC in the arrangement you make between yourselves, we are not responsible for your personal choices when ordering.
Can I change/amend/cancel my order once I've clicked on the final BUY button?
No. As it is an automated system we have no control over it. Once the order is placed it is final, there is no going back. Please double check your order before you buy. Did you enter any discount code? If you manually cropped the image have you rechecked the crop?
How does the shop work?
When you've clicked on the image you are buying you will see 2 options on the right hand side of the screen. Popular 'quick buy' options are shown underneath the VISIT SHOP button. If you see what you'd like to buy from the 'quick buy' options on display please click on the appropriate one. If you'd prefer to see all your buying options then clicking VISIT SHOP is your best bet. Please note, not all products and packages can be displayed in the 'Quick Buy' panel.
How do prices compare to your competitors?
We've considered the pricelists from the largest providers to schools and we are confident that our prices and packages are priced similarly to our large corporate competitors. Whilst it's difficult to compare everything on a like for like basis, we do know that we are very competitive on many of our products. Last time we did a price comparison with the big corporate providers we offered bigger, higher quality images for less money. We believe that we represent better value for money than the large corporates whilst offering both high quality images and a high quality service to the school.
Was there a price increase in 2026?
No. We haven't increased our prices since 2023. We have just had an email from the website and print team saying prices will be increasing in 2027. They haven't said by how much yet but as we absorbed the last price increase we will need to pass the next one on directly to you, the customer. Sorry!
I forgot to add the discount code before placing my order
Oh no, sorry to hear that! As the discount code cannot be used retrospectively you have missed out this time.
I have more than one child in school, can I place a single order for all my kids and only pay one postage fee?
Yes you can. It is made easier if you have an account (if you haven't used us before please click on the bottom right hand side of this page where it says LOGIN and follow the instructions to create an account). Once you are logged in and have chosen an image and put it in 'Your Basket' please click the link in the email for your additional children whilst you are still logged in. You can then add their image(s) to your basket and checkout when you are ready. The items will then be shipped together.
How do I know I've made an order?
You will get an order confirmation email almost immediately. (It might be a couple of minutes) This will confirm your order and will contain an order reference number.
The package I'd like says it will be shipped as separate orders and must be priced separately. What does this mean?
The package price remains the same and you will only pay one shipping cost. The reason it says this is because there is a digital download in your package. This is processed directly from the server to your computer rather than physically sent by the lab. You only pay a shipping cost for the physical items sent in the post.
I want lustre prints but it only shows glossy. Can you help?
Yes we can. Prints (and prints in packages) are glossy by default. To change them to lustre please follow these instructions: Put the print/package you want into your shopping cart. Click view cart. Click on the print you want to change. Over on the right hand side of your screen look for where it says Paper Type. It'll say glossy. Click here and change it to lustre. Click save. It will then take you back to your cart and you will see that the Paper Type has been updated to lustre.
Can I crop the image?
Yes you can. Please ensure you are happy with the crop and you haven't cropped out items that you want in the image. If in doubt don't crop.
What is the grey shaded rectangle surrounding the image when I view it after clicking 'Edit'?
That indicates the area that might not get printed. That area can vary between a print and a mounted print for example. As they stand, all images will be printed with no need for your intervention unless you are confident with the cropping. (See above).
How long do orders take to come?
Turnaround is indicated when you place an order in your basket. Prints are usually the quickest. For example; we've known people to have ordered one day and received them the next day. We can't guarantee this of course as it will depend on how busy the lab is.
Will the copyright watermark be published?
No. The only writing on the image will be the class group e.g. 6M Westbury Park Primary School
What about Digital downloads?
Class groups do not have digital downloads as an option. This is due to safeguarding. Individual class photos, usually taken in the autumn term, do have a digital download option.
Is there a time limit on my digital download?
Yes, please ensure you download your digital file within 30 days otherwise it will expire
Email replies
We aim to read and reply to emails as soon as possible. Please note: Emails are only checked during the time period that a gallery is open and for 7 days after the closure of the gallery. Outside of those times email is NOT checked.
Email update October 2026
Due to circumstances outside our control the gallery opened a little later this year. Which means it will be open during half term. Which coincides with a family holiday for us too. We will likely have access to emails but answering may be slightly slower. Thank you for your patience.
How long do we keep the images?
We keep the images for approx one year after the original gallery has closed. They are then deleted. Image retrieval from the archive is possible within that year, it incurs a £15 admin charge plus the cost of the printing/package/postage you choose.
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