PRIMARY school sport in Worcestershire will be transformed with a £1,736,400 cash boost announced today.
The money, part of a £150 million-a-year Gover-nment grant, will be dished out to primary schools across the country in a bid to inspire future sports stars.
Specialised coaching, equipment and sporting competitions could be funded using the cash, improving current offerings.
The extra funding, pledged by Prime Minister David Cameron, is part of the London 2012 legacy and should provide more opportunities for young people in sport.
Schools in Worcester-shire set to receive the money said it would help them drive sport on the educational agenda.
Heather Thomson, headteacher at Inkberrow First School, which is to receive £8,335, said: “It will be a great boost to our budget.
“It will allow us to perhaps buy in specialist coaching, be used for coaches or minibuses, as being a rural school we so often have to travel to sporting events and towards PE equipment.”
There have been wide-spread calls for investment in primary school sport following the success of Team GB at the London Games and in a bid to improve the health of young people.
This new funding, which can only be spent on sport, aims to improve the quality of provision in every state primary school in England.
There will also be a 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 will be 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 and a new provision introduced as part of initial teacher training to produce a cadre of primary teachers with a particular specialism in PE.
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."
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