The Queensland School for Travelling Show Children (QSTSC) was a publicly funded co-educational primary (K–7) school that provided distance education services to the children and families of itinerant business proprietors and workers on the agricultural show circuits in all states and territories of Australia except Western Australia.
Families whose incomes were dependent on the employment opportunities provided by the shows had traditionally found it difficult to access mainstream educational services leading in some cases to interruption or abandonment of education at an early age and in others either the splitting up of families as one parent or carer stayed on the circuit whilst another settled in one place on a permanent basis or cessation of the occupation by parents and carers.
After sustained lobbying by representatives of the Australian Romani community and the Showman's Guild of Australia, the Queensland government agreed to establish a specially developed distance learning curriculum for the children in 1989.
[2] Following the success of this program it was decided in 1999 to set up a mobile school with transportable classrooms which could accompany the show people on their circuits and provide a more structured learning environment.
A third run operated as and when required at locations where there were sufficient students whose families were working off the main show circuits who could attend classes.