1863
- Decision by Wesleyan Methodist Church to establish a “collegiate institution” in Sydney
- College inaugurated at Newington House, Silverwater, in July
1864
- First recorded cricket match against another school team (from Horton College, Tasmania)
1866
- College Council established
- First College athletics meeting
- First known program of musical, dramatic and recitation performances staged
1867
- Australian Rules football played
1868
- Black and white colours adopted
1869
- First known rugby match (vs University of Sydney)
- Cadet Unit founded
- First rifle shooting match (vs Camden College)
1870
- First inter-school rugby match (vs The King’s School)
1877
- Construction of College at Stanmore commenced
1880
- Move to Stanmore
1883
- Stanmore Methodist Church dedicated, serving also as College Chapel for next ninety years
1884
- School magazine, The Newingtonian, first published
- Fencing Club started
- First known performance by a school choir
1885
- Bicycle Club started
1886
- First Chemical Laboratory constructed
- Drum, fife and bugle band started, as part of cadet corps
1887
- A Literary and Debating Society founded
- First inter-school tennis match
1888
- A Musical Society founded
1889
- Prefects first appointed
- A ‘Modern Form’, distinguished from traditional ‘Classics’, established to prepare boys for business careers
1890
- First gymnasium constructed
1890
- First gymnasium constructed
1891
- First known performance by a school orchestra
1892
- GPS sporting competitions start with foundation of the Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of NSW
1893
- A Science Club started, along with a small geological museum and zoo
1894
- First Swimming Bath constructed
1895
- Old Newingtonians’ Union founded
1896
- First group of students from Tonga enrolled
1899
- First school flag, black and white and bearing the wyvern, hoisted
1905
- First open scholarships, offered within and outside the College, awarded
1911
- Compulsory military training for boys introduced by Commonwealth Government, incorporating existing school Cadet units
1912
- Intermediate Certificate examination introduced
1913
- Leaving Certificate examination introduced
- Jubilee (50th anniversary) celebrations
1914–1918
- Some 650 former students and staff serve in First World War; 111 known to have died in service
1915
- Theological Institution for training Methodist ministers moved from Stanmore campus to separate site
1919
- Influenza pandemic disrupted school year
1920
- First entry in GPS Rowing with two IVs
1921
- Separate Preparatory School classroom building constructed
- College wins Head of the River with its first VIII entry
1922
- College incorporated (Newington College Council Act 1922 (NSW))
- Three First World War memorials dedicated
1925
- Robert Glasson Memorial Boatshed constructed at Checkley Street, Abbotsford
1928
- Parents’ and Friends’ Association founded
1929
- First known performance by a school jazz band
1931
- School uniform adopted
1932
- House system introduced, initially with four Houses
- Earliest known school play performed
1933
- First College invitational swimming carnival
1934
- Glasson Pavilion opened
1935
- Gymnasium reconstructed as the Stewart Spence Gymnasium
1937
- Cross country races commence as part of House competition
1939
- A separate preparatory school, Wyvern House, inaugurated
1939-1945
- More than 820 former students and staff serve in Second World War; 61 known to have died in service
1942
- First female teacher and subject head appointed
1943
- Air Training Corps flight formed
1952
- Junior Farmers’ Club started
1953
- War Memorial Classroom Block completed, followed by Science Block (1955) and Prescott (Manual Arts) Block (1957)
1957
- Preparatory School opened at Killara
1958
- Golf started as school sport (re-introduced in 2020)
1961
- Nesbitt Wing opened
1962
- Wyndham Scheme commenced, leading to School Certificate (1965) and Higher School Certificate (1967)
- First student representative body established
- Earliest known school musical performed
1963
- Centenary celebrations
- Centenary Hall opened
- Language Laboratory installed
1966
- Further Science Block constructed
1967
- Killara Preparatory School moves to present campus at Lindfield
1968
- Physical Education Centre, incorporating a new gymnasium and an outdoor swimming pool, opened
1969
- Unofficial basketball competition with five other schools commenced, followed by GPS competition in 1975
1972
- Lane Block constructed
1973
- Soccer (now Football) commenced as school sport, initially in an independent schools competition
- Student magazine, John Jones, first published
1974
- The Newington Foundation established
- After changes over previous decades, eight Houses established
1975
- Association of the Arts (now the Creative Arts Association) established
1976
- Community Corps introduced as an alternative to Cadets
- Resources Centre (Library, audio-visual and other facilities) constructed
1978
- Fencing revived as school sport
- First Founders’ Concert held, initially as part of Founders’ Day activities
1982
- Pastoral care system, incorporating Houses, introduced
1984
- New College Chapel dedicated; first performance on Knud Smenge organ
1988
- Arts Centre (Music and Visual Arts) opened
- GPS Cross Country and Soccer competitions commenced
- Independent schools’ Water Polo competition inaugurated
1992
- Newington wins “Eight out of Eight” senior GPS Summer sports competitions
1993
- New Physical Education Centre (now the Taylor Sports Centre), including heated indoor swimming pool, and Space Frame opened
1995
- New Boatshed opened at Abbotsford
- John Waterhouse Society inaugurated
1997-1998
- Major noise attenuation works due to opening of Sydney Airport’s Third Runway
1998
- Wyvern House Preparatory School moves to present campus at Cambridge Street, Stanmore
- Edmund Webb House, initially for senior boarders, opened at Cambridge Street
1999
- Footbridge over busy Stanmore Road opened
2003
- First biennial Literature Festival held
- Volleyball introduced, with initially limited GPS competition
2004
- Newington Challenge program introduced as an alternative to Cadets
2007
- First RockFest competition
2008
- First cohort of Year 11 students commence International Baccalaureate studies
2009-2010
- Re-development of Lindfield campus completed, and Don Brown Hall and Music Centre opened
2010
- Centre for Ethics established
- Roy Zimmerman Library at Wyvern House opened
2011
- Technology Centre opened
- Concordia Gallery opened
2012
- Cross Fit (now NewFit) program commenced as an alternative to team sport
2013
- Sesquicentenary celebrations
- AJ Rae Centre and LRD Pyke Centre, along with Sesquicentenary Quadrangle, opened
2016
- Tupou College Centre for Year 7 and Duckmanton Drama Centre opened
- Table Tennis competition against with some GPS and CAS schools commenced
2017
- Entry Forecourt completed
- Australian Rules (‘AFL’) football revived with an Independent Schools’ competition
2018
- Early Learning Centre opened
2019
- Student magazine, Censored, first published
2020
- Year 12 Study Centre created
- Response to COVID-19 pandemic, including pivot to online learning and staged return to campus
2021
- Renewed disruption with COVID Delta outbreak
- Additional eight Houses announced, with sixteen-House structure to operate from the start of 2022