When the Sisters of St Joseph were asked if they could establish a school for East Lake Macquarie, there was no hesitation. They said yes.

This year St Mary's Catholic College, Gateshead is celebrating 60 years since its doors were opened in 1964.

School ministry coordinator De-Anna Addicoat says when she looks at the students of the school, she is looking at the answered prayers of the Josephites.

"They weren't given any money or land, they just did it through blood, sweat and tears and a lot of prayers," she said.

"I look at these students today and I'm looking at the sisters' prayers and their dreams. What I see today is their dream come true."

In the past 10 years Ms Addicoat has seen the college transition from a year's 7 to 10 school, expanding to accommodate year 11 and 12 in 2019.

"With that came the name change from St Mary's High School to St Mary's Catholic College," she said.

"We also changed the school crest to an updated version and our uniforms became more formal."

When the school first opened, it was an all girls high school with just 156 enrolments. It became a co-ed school in 1983.

"When it was a seven to ten co-ed school the numbers went up to nearly a thousand but it couldn't be maintained because they really didn't have the buildings to accommodate, so numbers dwindled down to five or six hundred," Ms Addicoat said.

Since expanding to senior years, there is now a waiting list for 70 students to attend the college in 2025.

"To be able to accommodate the need of people wanting to come to this school we're going from 180 in year 7 to taking 210. The demand is going to take us up to a thousand or so again now," she said.

The school community came together to celebrate the milestone on Friday, November 22 with a mass and array of fundraising activities for the St Vincent De Paul Christmas Appeal. Students also made crosses to represent each of the six decades.

"It was a great celebration of love, faith, courage and community," Ms Addicoat said.

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