Leaving present from class to teacher?

[Whatonearthhhhhh]

Hi all
I'm a year 3 teaching assistant and the class teacher will be leaving at the end of this half term to have her baby. She has taught me a lot and been fabulous, so I feel I really owe her and would love to do something for her.
Over getting her something just from myself, I'd love to get the kids involved so she can remember the class and how loved she is, whilst she is away. I was thinking maybe a big group poster, but that might just get thrown away or lost at home.
I had another idea for a big jar labelled 'we will miss you because...' and the kids write something they love about her on a piece of heart shaped card and we put them all in.
What do you think? I don't want to spend lots of money but would love something sentimental that she could keep for a long time.
Any ideas?

How about speech bubble post it notes. Everyone writes something to her on them. Stick to sheet of paper and laminate. Less likely to loose that than a bits of paper in a jar.

I was taught on my first teaching practice to make a composite card - give each child a small rectangle of paper to fold in half and make their own mini card on. Then stick these to a piece of A4 or A3 card folded in half to make one big card. If necessary, you can add pages inside to make it a booklet.

2 main reasons - something small is far easier to store and therefore more likely to be kept and secondly, you can get each child to work on their contributions individually - take them out in small groups if necessary so much easier to manage, especially if you want it to be a surprise. You can then assemble it all when it's done.

I like the jar idea too!