Nigel Sitwell from Chichester has been looking into his family's history and knew that no less than 13 Sitwells had been pupils at the school between 1905 and 1960.
Newlands was aware of his visit and had arranged for him to be joined by local resident Isla Sitwell, a distant relative whom he'd never met before.
Both of the gentlemen were given a guided tour of the school by year nine students, Emma Bacchus and Anya Reade.
Isla was a pupil at Newlands in the early 1950s but Nigel missed out because when he was school age Newlands was transferred to Oxford as part of the World War Two evacuation programme.
Isla, who was one of the last Sitwells to attend the school, was pleased to see the name of one of his forbears, R B Wilmot-Sitwell, one of the first pupils to join Newlands in its inaugural year of 1905, on the names boards that adorn some of the school's corridor walls.
Also featuring at the open morning was a book signing by design technology teacher Martin Bulger. Martin is the author of Living Makes You Run Longer, a book about marathon running. While most of the books signed were for pupils, one enterprising and very fit athlete, 72-year-old David Rutter, walked from his home in Hove for an autographed book before returning by more conventional means.
Speaking after the open morning, headmaster Chris Bridgman said, " It was wonderful to see so many people visit the school and so nice to meet a former pupil. I know Emma and Anya took great pride showing Nigel and Isla around the school.
"Martin's book signing was a great success and a wonderful introduction to the 10k run that will be taking place at Newlands on June 15." (C)