Volunteers pitch in to pay sixth teacher

When members of the Palmerston Primary School's Parent Teacher Association were told the school needed money to fund a sixth teacher, they did what all good country PTA volunteers would do - rolled up their sleeves and started churning out cheese rolls.

In fact, they made a whopping 7896 of the delicacies, raising $1300 for the school.

The cheese rolls were produced by 25 Palmerston primary school home and school association members in four hours, PTA president Tanya Bell, of Shag Valley, said yesterday.

They were sold around Palmerston and the Waihemo district.

Over the past few years, the school and parents had faced the disruption of children moving between classes during the year when the school roll expanded to reach the numbers for an extra teacher, Mrs Bell said.

Funding the sixth teacher's position this year through fundraising to supplement funds being made available by the school's board of trustees allowed the school to employ the extra teacher for the full year, she said.

The PTA also raised $9000 for the extra teacher with a lamb drive earlier this year and other fundraising projects, including lamb tailing, might also be considered.

The fundraising also helped pay for some school trips without parents having to constantly dig into their pockets, Mrs Bell said.