My child’s school still relies on a temporary building block from the 60s. How did we get here?

Students at Lysterfield primary school in Melbourne. Investment in capital works for schools can have benefits well beyond the classroom Photograph: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

I didn’t send my first born kid to a public school because it’s free. He goes to a public school because his parents believe that kids should grow up with a range of peers, not just the ones who look, speak and live like them and because we don’t believe in religion in education.

The fact that we were committed to a public school education was a happy relief; should we have wanted to send our kid to a private school, we would have had about the same chance financially as buying a new Lamborghini to do the school run.