£150m a year boost for sport in schools

A primary school with 250 pupils would receive £9,250 per year – about two days a week of a primary teacher or a coach’s time, according to Mr Cameron.

There will be a lump sum for each school with a per-pupil top-up, he said.

It is part of a strategy, announced on the back of the successful London 2012 Games, geared towards improving sport provision in state primary schools in England.

Mr Cameron also announced ring-fenced funding for sport which will be decided by heads or teachers.

Sports governing bodies and voluntary organisations will be offered a greater role to help increase specialist coaching and skills development.

Ofsted has been tasked with holding schools to account for how they spend the money.

Sport England is also investing £1.5m a year of Lottery funding through the County Sport partnerships to help primary schools link up with local sports coaches, clubs and governing bodies.

Olympic champions Mo Farah and Sheffield’s Jessica Ennis 
plus Lord Coe, the London 2012 chairman and the Prime Minister’s Olympic and Paralympic legacy ambassador, all gave the new school sport strategy their support.

Farah, the 5,000m and 10,000m gold medallist, said: “It is great to see a commitment to funding school sport and that it is something I passionately believe in.”

Heptathlete Ennis said: “It is great to see initiatives that help to give really young children the chance to take part in sport.

“This latest funding for primary schools sounds fantastic – so many of them have no funds for PE and hopefully now whether in an inner city or small rural community young kids will be introduced to fun ways to be active that will spark an interest in taking part in sport as they grow up.”