There is a new lesson on the curriculum at the pre-school in Steventon -- composting.

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The children -- including Jack, four, above -- are throwing waste vegetables and fruit into their new composter, provided by the county council, to help nourish the school garden.

Every Monday morning, the children are set free from the classroom to get their hands dirty in the garden, where they learn lessons about nature and the environment.

Supervisor Liz Rivers said: "Composting is a very good way for the children to see how organic material breaks down and then can return to the earth as food for the soil. It is a good way to get young people involved in environmental issues."

Four-year-old Jamie Lonsdale, from Steventon, said: "We put our banana skins and apple cores into our composter so that we can grow pumpkins in the compost next Hallowe'en. It's great fun and very important."

The county council's executive member for waste management, Anne Purse, said: "It is the children in the county who are the householders of the future so it is vital that they get involved with these sort of activities."