An accused paedophile and former primary school teacher telephoned, sent a card to, and gave small amounts of money to one of his alleged victims, a Supreme Court jury heard yesterday.

The note the man allegedly sent to the nine-year-old girl was read aloud in court yesterday by the girl's mother, a former school principle.

In it, the accused told the girl not to make promises she couldn't keep and to 'stay sweet'.

The 53-year-old Smith's parish man is on trial for 11 charges of sexual exploitation of minors while in a position of trust and one charge of inciting a minor to touch him.

The man - who cannot be named for legal reasons - denies the charges which are alleged to have occurred at a school where he was employed between 1997 and 1999.

Yesterday, the mother of the alleged victims testified that she met the accused man on several occasions including one incident when her daughter - now 12 years old - and a number of other students were taken on a Sunday outing to St. George's.

On two occasions, she added, the defendant had called the young girl on the telephone at the family home.

"On the first occasion, he telephoned, my daughter answered the phone," the mother said. "After five minutes or so of talking, I asked who was on the phone and she handed me the phone and said it was (the defendant)."

The mother said the phone call occurred when her daughter was seven years old and that she had asked who was calling because it was unusual for her children to receive telephone calls.

The defendant told her he had called because the girl was behind in school, she said. Some months later, she claimed, he called a second time.

In June 1999, the mother said she found a note from the defendant to her daughter.

"I found a white note and after reading it, I was very concerned about what it said," the mother said, and identified the note which had previously been entered into evidence.

At the request of Crown prosecutor Juan Wolffe, she read the note to the court.

"Do not make promises you cannot keep," it said. "Today is Thursday. You know what I mean. Be sweet like when I first met you. Smile."

It ended with a smiley-face.

"How did you feel," asked Mr. Wolffe asked of finding the note. "I felt very uncomfortable," she replied. "That is not a note a seven year-old would write down."

The mother said she later approached the principal of the school about her concerns and the defendant was called into the principal's office and confronted with the note.

The defendant appeared "agitated", she said, but claimed he had sent the note to encourage the girl to be nicer as her behaviour had been deteriorating.

The mother said she also learned during the meeting that the teacher had been giving her daughter money.

She said she was angry because she had been withholding money from her daughter to discipline her.

"Each Friday it was 25 cents," the mother replied when asked how much money the defendant gave her daughter. "I don't know how many occasions."

She added: "I told (the defendant) I did not want him to have any contact with my daughter."

But, she said, she had to meet with the principal and the defendant again when she found a card given to her daughter about a party to be held on a public holiday.

The principal was very upset at the second meeting, she said, as the teacher had been clearly told to leave the young girl alone.

"(The defendant) said she would not leave him alone," the mother said. "(The principle) said to him 'who is the adult here'."

On cross examination, defence attorney Elizabeth Christopher asked whether the girl was in fact, nine years old at the time of the alleged incidents. "That's correct," the mother replied.

The mother also admitted that when she was first contacted about the alleged offences against her daughter she had not believed anything had happened.

"Would it be correct to say you were amazed something might have happened," Ms Christopher asked. "I don't know if I would use the word amazed," the mother replied.

Ms Christopher also asked if she was certain of the order of events she had described to the court and the mother said she was.

Also offering testimony yesterday was the principal of the school where the alleged assaults took place.

The principal confirmed that the defendant worked for the school periodically between 1997 and 1999.

And he testified that he had met with the alleged victim's mother with regard to her concerns in 1999, identified the note and again read it aloud for the jury.

Ms Christopher asked the principal about the location of windows in school rooms where incidents are alleged to have occurred and about various school clubs run by the defendant and other teachers.

He said there were windows - some unshaded - along both sides of the classrooms and that people occasionally took shortcuts past these windows.

The principal is expected to return to the witness box this morning.