Primary school sport is set to be transformed thanks to a 150m-a-year boost that will improve coaching for the youngest pupils and inspire the Olympic and Paralympic stars of the future, the Prime Minister announced today (16 March).

London 2012 gave Britain a once in a lifetime opportunity to inspire a nation to enjoy sport and the Government wants to embed that into the school day from an early age. 

The new sports funding aims to improve the quality of provision in every state primary school in England. This means: A lump sum for each school, with a per-pupil top-up. A typical primary school with 250 primary aged pupils would receive £9,250 per year. This is the equivalent of around two days a week of a primary teacher or a coach's time - enough to make sure every pupil in the school can do sport with a specialist. 

Ring-fenced funding only to be spent on sport - will go directly into the hands of heads and teachers who will decide what is best for their children's needs. This could vary from specialist coaching and teacher training to dedicated sports programmes, Change4Life sport clubs and support for after-school or weekend competitions.

A greater role for Britain’s best sporting and voluntary organisations, including National Governing Bodies who will increase the specialist coaching and skills development on offer for primary schools. 

Tougher assessment of sport provision via Ofsted to ensure the funding is bringing the maximum benefit for all pupils, with schools held to account for how they spend the money.

Sport England investing £1.5 million a year of lottery funding through the County Sport partnerships to help Primary Schools link up with local sports coaches, clubs and sports governing bodies. 

New provision as part of initial teacher training to produce a cadre of primary teachers with a particular specialism in PE. This is being developed in conjunction with sporting bodies and will start with a pilot covering 120 primary teachers, with the first of these beginning work in schools in September 2013.

The Prime Minister David Cameron said: "The Olympic and Paralympic Games marked an incredible year for this country and I will always be proud that we showed the world what Britain can do."

"I want to ensure the Games count for the future too and that means capitalising on the inspiration young people took from what they saw during those summer months."

"With this new approach to sport, we can create a culture in our schools that encourages all children to be active and enjoy sport, and helps foster the aspirations of future Olympians and Paralympians.

"Whether that is the future Jessica Ennis, Ellie Simmonds or Mo Farah, or someone who will simply learn to love sport and exercise for a lifetime, this investment will benefit a whole generation of children for many years to come."

Chance to Shine Chief Executive Wasim Khan backed the new Government scheme and said, "We welcome today announcement by the Prime Minister on ring-fenced funding for primary school sport. We want all young people to lead active, healthy lives and Chance to Shine has a proven track record of delivering cricket to nearly two million children in primary and secondary schools nationwide. We look forward to playing our role in supporting the England and Wales Cricket Board on this new government policy."