Glenda Hutchinson, senior mentor at Taree High School, could not praise the event highly enough, saying "we're just absolutely thrilled."

The school brought out the archives for display which was a huge hit. "We had a very emotional response from people. Some were in tears," Glenda said.

Alumni representing every decade from the 1930s onwards were present, with the oldest in attendance being Keith McLaughlin at 99-years-old.

One of the focuses of the day was the promotion of the upcoming creation of an alumni website.

The school received a grant from Charles Sturt University to create the website and professionals will be hired to build it.

Work on the website is expected to begin at the start of term three this year, when the funding is received.

The website will not just be about alumni, but will also contain sub-groups for reunions, and among other things, a history of the community - community being an important aspect of the school's focus.

Taree High School is a Connected Communities school, which means they work in partnership with the Biripi community to help improve education outcomes for young Aboriginal people.

Glenda said the focus on Connected Communities made the school realise they had perhaps lost contact with the rest of the community, hence 'going back to the past'.

"It's important for our current generation of students to realise they are only here for a few years and then they hand it on to future generations," said Glenda.

The ethos of 'handing it on to future generations' was displayed on the day when alumnus Mr Esser bought forth the music manuscript for the school song and sung it.

Although the school has the words for the song, the song itself was missing for decades, and nobody knew the tune.

Glenda Hutchinson said the school song can now be resurrected and it was "the most marvellous thing to come out of the day".