The Christian organisation which founded a landmark Sussex school has agreed to sponsor the county's first three academies.

The Woodard Corporation has been working with West Sussex County Council on a project which could see Littlehampton Community School, Boundstone Community College in Sompting and King's Manor Community College in Shoreham completely rebuilt.

The two organisations are working together on an "expression of interest" to submit to the government next month asking for the schools to be granted academy status.

If the scheme is given the go ahead the sites would undergo a redevelopment expected to cost more than £70million, largely funded by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). The sponsor would have to fund a minimum of £2 million of the project in exchange for a significant input into the curriculum and management of the school.

West Sussex county councillor Mark Dunn, who will today announce the plan to the council, said: "These would be an entirely new type of school and would be a hugely exciting development for parents and children."

The Woodard Corporation is a charitable Church of England organisation which already owns or runs 40 independent and state schools across Britain.

It was founded by priest Nathaniel Woodard who opened his first school, the landmark Lancing College, in 1847 on the principle that good education could change an area's future.

Canon Brendan Clover, Woodard's senior provost, yesterday said the new academies would benefit from sharing some resources with Lancing College and the organisation's other Sussex independent schools, Hurstpierpoint College, near Hassocks, and Ardingly College, near Haywards Heath.

Canon Clover said: "This is a wonderful prospect. We have considerable experience of running schools in difficult circumstances and believe we can contribute a great deal on the south coast."

He was quick to counter any suggestion the academies would have an overbearing religious curriculum.

Canon Clover said: "We believe in Christianity as an ethos and would expect to introduce ideas throughout the curriculum but not in a prescriptive fashion.

"I can categorically reassure people that creationism will not be on the curriculum at the academies or any of our schools. We are not an evangelical organisation."

The potential for investment has been welcomed by the schools.

King's Manor Community College headteacher Heidi Brown said: "This is a really exciting opportunity to move the school forward.

"Our buildings are a challenge for us. They date back to the late 1950s and they leak when it rains. The electrics are outdated. We make the best of them but we are in dire need of a rebuild."

Bognor Regis and Littlehampton MP Nick Gibb said: "It is wonderful news that the schools will finally be getting a rebuild and especially good that they have the advantage of having a sponsor with experience in education."

Woodard and the council will submit outline proposals to the DfES next month. A date when the academies could be built has not yet been set.

An academy has been earmarked to replace Falmer High School in Brighton in 2010. Brighton and Hove City Council said yesterday that the project was continuing to progress through the planning stage.

East Sussex County Council yesterday said it had no plans to create any academy schools.