THE head teacher of a York secondary school has welcomed a Government U-turn on plans to slash school sports budgets in the run up to the 2012 Olympics.

David Ellis, the head teacher of York High School in Acomb, has welcomed Education Secretary Michael Gove's partial climb down over his decision to scrap the £162m Schools Sports Partnership in England.

Mr Gove has announced plans to salvage over £47m from his department budget to make sure the partnership survives, saving administrators' jobs.

He said: “This decision is very very welcome news for schools, but it is still about half the money that was previously there. As a group of York head teachers we will need to look at how we can continue to use the money we have to provide quality sports provision.

“It is particularly good news for primary schools that rely heavily on the partnerships.”

Previously Mr Ellis was one of dozens of teachers who put their names to an open letter in The Observer newspaper on Sunday attacking Mr Gove's plans to withdraw funding for school sport partnerships.

In York, there are two school sport partnerships -Ebor, which includes York High, and Yorvik, each costing about £240,000 a year to run.

All city state schools are included in one or the other and they work by allowing secondary school sports teachers time out to go to primary schools to share their specialist knowledge and teach the children sport.

The partnership also allows older children at secondary level to go into primary schools and help to teach younger children.

Teachers and athletes, such as Olympic star Denise Lewis, mounted a strong campaign against the original decision.

And Mr Ellis said the campaign to make sure school sport is properly funded will continue to ensure that it is in place beyond the 2012 games.