Justin Heazlewood & Keiron Burgess

Class Acts: Episode 08

Justin Heazlewood aka The Bedroom Philosopher grew up in Burnie on the northwest coast of Tasmania. 

Justin loved being a student at Montello Primary with his best mate Dion McCall, who these days is the Headmaster at Montello. 

Justin was the only child of a single mother who was incredibly loving but also - unbeknownst to anyone at school - struggling to deal with schizophrenia. That meant that when he was a primary school kid, Justin was also the primary carer for a parent with severe mental illness.  

Justin wrote an extraordinary book about his childhood called
Get Up Mum, which author Laura Jane McKay says is “one of the most beautiful, funny and generous memoirs I’ve ever read”. 

In this episode of Class Acts, the Bedroom Philosopher returns to the bedroom just down the road from his beloved Montello Primary, and reminisces with his favourite teachers, as well as Montello headmasters past and present.