A NEW 1,000-pupil secondary school in Grove would be Church of England, it has been revealed.

It could also have maths lessons in Mandarin, school days starting at 10.30am and evening classes in knitting.

The Vale Academy Trust school board, which wants to open the new free school in 2019, revealed more plans and asked for parents' ideas at a meeting on Monday night.

Executive headteacher Simon Spiers revealed that if his trust's bid to the Department for Education is successful the school will be CofE.

He said: "We wanted to offer as much choice to parents as possible. What that means on the ground is wide open to discussion."

Many of the 50 parents who attended the meeting at Millbrook School in Grove said they had concerns about that idea.

Mother-of-two Sue Wilson, from Grove, said: "I would look for a difference between Christian values and Christian education: I don't want the Bible taught, other than as part of the curriculum for RE lessons."

Mum-of-three Nicky Tappin, meanwhile, said: "It doesn't bother me as long as they don't push it on the children."

One parent said they "struggled with the idea of a CofE school", another said they would prefer a non-religious school and others said the positively liked the idea.

Andy Brown, headteacher of St Nicholas CofE Primary School in East Challow, told mums and dads that for his school the designation meant having "Christian values" such as valuing others and learning tolerance.

The Vale Academy Trust, which runs King Alfred's secondary school in Wantage and five local primaries, has also said it wants to open an "all-through" school, taking pupils from two years old up to 16 but not sixth-formers.

Parents were asked on Monday what the length of the school day should be in different parts of the new academy.

One mum said she would like the nursery part of the school to open from 7.15am because it would solve the problem of trying to find childcare when she left for work at that time.

Another parent suggested teenagers should not have to go in until 10.30am, which some studies have suggested suits the adolescent body clock.

It was also suggested that there could be after-school homework clubs on site until 5.30pm, which might encourage children to do their homework.

One mum said she would like it if half term breaks could be two weeks long, on the basis it would give children more time to relax, and the summer holiday reduced from four weeks to two.

It was also pointed out that one school having different term times from all the others in the area could cause problems.

Community-accessible sports and theatre facilities were another common suggestion, as were evening classes for adults.

Many parents said they would like the school to focus on science and technology subjects to help students get jobs in the local "Science Vale" hubs like Culham and Harwell.

One group of parents suggested that rather than just teaching foreign languages, normal school lessons such as maths could be taught in a foreign language.

Mr Spiers said he would use all the suggestions to finalise the bid which the trust has to submit to the Department for Education by 5pm today.

The trust will hear back sometime by Easter next year whether it has been successful. If it is, it will then begin a detailed planning process.