It's so hard when children get worried about things. All we want to do is help reassure them, but sometimes simple reassurance just doesn’t do the trick. When that anxiety is around going back to school, it’s even more tricky. We can’t just not let them go – and it's horrible to think of them feeling sad when we’re not there to support them.

The latest childcare report from IPPR (The Childcare Challenge: How can the government deliver a real childcare guarantee), commissioned by Save the Children UK, was published this week. It comes at a critical time as just last week the UK Government announced their aim for 75% of children to be ‘school ready’ by 2028, up from 68%.This target reflects a shift in focus for the UK Government from childcare to child development and has the potential to make a real difference to the lives of children in the UK. Good quality childcare is critical not just because it enables parents to access paid employment, but because it has the power to address inequalities children face before they enter school.Given the importance of childcare in families’ lives, it’s deeply concerning that the findings in this new report reveal that only one third of the poorest fifth of parents with young children use formal childcare, compared with two-thirds of those in the highest earning households. This is in part due to the lack of childcare places and the lower quality of childcare in more deprived areas as well as the exclusion of some families from the funded hours offer. The challenges facing the childcare sector could undermine the Government’s target around school-readiness and see the attainment gap between children experiencing financial disadvantage compared with those who aren’t increasing