[5] The first headmaster of the school was E H Hensley, who read mathematics at Cambridge University and became a wrangler by achieving a first class degree.

[6] The school was founded on a site between Throwley Way and the High Street in Sutton, and officially opened in a ceremony on 21 July 1899.

[7] The Sutton School Song was composed in 1935 by the chairman of the governors, Courtenay Gale, and the words were written by a Mr Horn,[who?]

In 1954, however, "Keep Faith" was adopted as a new motto, with "Floreat Suttona" being used only occasionally, for example, as a sign off in communiqués to old boys of the school (known as "Old Suttonians").

[23] He again received widespread press coverage in 2016 after he discovered a way to make deadly triple negative breast cancer more treatable.

These names were suggested in 2017 by head of geography and Old Suttonian R Pletts to replace the houses of Blue, Brown, Green and Red, previously Scott, Drake, Nelson and Hood which had been in existence since 1920 and had themselves replaced the original houses of North, South, East and West.

[32] Many address pupils during assemblies, help to organise sports teams, lead the warm-up lap in opening the annual house athletics championship and, at the end of their tenure, help to select their successor.

Scenes for the Hollywood film Black Sea, starring Jude Law and directed by Kevin Macdonald, were shot outside the school on 1 August 2013.

[33][34] Fictional music character Mr.B The Gentleman Rhymer, who performs "chap hop" (hip-hop delivered in a Received Pronunciation accent), is described as having attended the school by his creator, Jim Burke, a British parodist.

[35] A prank played by pupils at the school attracted national press coverage, including from The Sun, and generated online debate in 2009.

Pupils moved numerous bricks onto the roof of the main building to spell out the word "cock" in large letters, which was spotted on Google Earth.

[41][42] The school's Combined Cadet Force was raised in early 1915 and officially recognised by the War Office in June 1915.

It was constructed from 114 stones cemented together in a cairn, each representing a single former pupil who died during the war, and each collected and carried down from over 100 peaks in the United Kingdom.

A guard of honour was held, executed by year 11 and upper sixth cadets under the command of Old Suttonian serving officers, and the names of the dead were read, as well as the Laurence Binyon poem, "For the Fallen".

[56] Until recently, patball – a hand and ball game said to have been invented at Dulwich College and borrowing from other sports such as Eton Fives[57] – was popular at the school.

The decline in patball's popularity within the school can be attributed to year groups being assigned separate sections of the playground as part of COVID-19 restrictions.

Recent productions include The Comedy of Errors, Grease, Loserville, The Wedding Singer, Sweet Charity, Oklahoma!, West Side Story and The Murder in the Red Barn.

[61] In the same year, the school finished runner-up in The Times/Kingsley Napley Student Advocacy Competition, which was adjudicated by Anne Rafferty and Max Hill and held at the headquarters of The Times.

In 2015, a lunch was held at the Royal Air Force Club to mark G D Ironside's 25th anniversary as headmaster, at which many Old Suttonians were present.

[73] The school has links to Freemasonry, specifically the Athene Lodge, which meets at Sutton Masonic Hall.

On 25 January 1932, a petition bearing 23 signatures was forwarded to the Provincial Grand Master of Surrey, requesting approval from the Grand Master to grant a warrant of constitution to form a regular lodge to meet under the name "Athena" in reference to the close association to the school.

After World War II, information was received that the contract for the purchase of the Sutton Masonic Hall had been signed and exchanged, and the lodge contributed 300 guineas to become a shareholder.

At a meeting on 17 December 1949, it was reported that a petition had been signed for a warrant of constitution for a Royal Arch Chapter to be attached to the lodge.