“WE stand in danger of being labelled as narrow-minded and bigoted,” said the head of a Christian independent school who teaches that homosexuality is wrong and that God intervened in the Second World War.

Phill Moon, head of Bradford Christian School, has combined forces with 39 other schools to appeal against a judgment that they could not bring back corporal punishment. The schools argued that corporal punishment is part of their Christian doctrine The softly-spoken, mild-mannered Mr Moon keeps a paddle shaped like a table-tennis bat locked in a cupboard ready for the day when it may once again be legal for teachers to smack children.

He said that the school, which was founded in 1993, only used corporal punishment three times before it was banned in 1999, 12 years after it was outlawed in state schools.

“We are not into beating or humiliating children. It takes integrity to use discipline and make it work. Corporal punishment is a complex issue but it gets painted in black and white.”

The school prides itself on helping pupils make “wise choices in the area of sex education” and its prospectus clearly states “sex is only for within marriage” and “homosexuality is sexual sin, alongside adultery and fornication”.

Mr Moon said: “Without being homophobic, we say this is what the Bible teaches about homosexuality. Marriage is the nearest we have to describing a covenantal relationship with God.

“People coming through our school are not going to come out bigoted fundamentalists. They are ordinary kids.”

The theory of evolution is taught to the older children but Mr Moon said:

“We would say biblically, evolution is a theory that does not hold up.”

Christianity permeates the curriculum and children are asked to consider why God was involved providentially in the two World Wars. Mr Moon, himself a history teacher, is keen to incorporate the hand of God into his version of history.

He said: “It is significant that the King called the people to pray just before the battle of Dunkirk. There was also a great storm so the Luftwaffe couldn’t take off and attack the soldiers on the beaches.”

Pupils pay fees of between pound;1,300 and pound;1,600 a year and are taught in fairly spartan surroundings because of the school’s lack of funds.

Despite the limited facilities the school, which had 37 pupils eight years ago, now has 150 and is oversubscribed.

It is one of a number of Christian schools which were set up in the 1980s and early 1990s. Pupils aged four to 16 begin every day with “devotion” - 20 minutes of Bible study and prayer.

Mr Moon said: “We are not trying to be opinionated. We are just providing an alternative.”