A link which started at a former school in Alton will not be broken as an exchange group has swapped South America for the South Downs.

Staff and students at Ditcham Park (DPS) said Hola to nine Colombian girls in the continuation of a scheme run by Alton School.

The visitors stayed with local families and fully immersed themselves in British life during the 15-day exchange which saw them take part in lessons, test their English and visit some of the county’s biggest sights.

The link goes back to Alton School with the sisterhood at the Catholic Convent forming links with the Colegio Buen Consejo in the northern Colombian city of Barraquilla.

The girls-only convent school has similar principles to DFS and has established cultural exchanges with counterparts in the US and Bordeaux.

Ditcham Park School stepped in to continue to link after teacher Peter Swabey joined DFS following the closure of Alton School last year.

“It’s a cultural exchange but there’s linguistic benefits,” said the school’s head of modern and foreign languages.

“It benefits students across the whole community along with parents and teachers and it’s just a very enriching experience for everyone involved.”

Maryori Santis, head of the Colombian party, called the experience “amazing” and said the exchange had really benefited her students.

She said: “They get to practice their English in speaking and listening to native people and also doing writing.

“I just really want to say thank you so much to Ditcham Park School and everyone involved for what we’ve experienced in these two weeks.

“We’ve enjoyed this experience to the fullest.”

Student Luciana Gutieyyez, enjoyed the trips to London and Oxford and is looking forward to welcoming her new English friends to Colombia in the future.

She said: “The exchange has been amazing – I think I’ve improved my English so much and my host family and everyone here has helped me practice a lot.

“I’ve learned so much and met a lot of great people.”

Her friend Celeste Correa said: “There’s so much more activity here than in Colombia and some of the stuff and lessons we wouldn’t do at home.”

Alec Barnes was the only DPS male student to take part in the exchange project with his Rowlands Castle family being hosts. He wanted to improve his Spanish so the link-up was hugely beneficial.

He said: “We were speaking Spanish at home so it was nice to learn some new words and to help Rosa with her language skills.”

The exchange was the second the school near Petersfield has taken part in with DPS headteacher, Graham Sparforth, keen to keep the link going.

He said: “I’m a massive fan of exchanges because of their huge educational and cultural value.

“For the Colombians they have been immersed in British family life, English language and our culture.

“They’ve also been on a number of trips to places like London, Bath and Oxford so they’ve also made a lot of memories to take back with them.”