Edublog advice -- Planning for the long haul.

I'm about to set up blogs for my 6th grade students to use for writing about literature. I'm comfortable with my goals, objectives, feedback, and assement. I subscribed to get rid of the ads and I'm ready to roll. However, as I was about to create student blogs I realized that I could create blogs for that I use from year to year. In the past each student had their own blog that became the students at the end of the year. Though several students went on to create their own blogs, none continued to use the blog for this class. I deleted them after 2 years of inactivity. I was uncomfortable leaving the digital footprint behind that they would probably forget even existed.

This year I'm considering making permanant blogs that will be passed down from year to year. My plan will be to change who can edit the accounts next year. This will allow the past year's info to be accessed - maybe to inspire future writing. Each year the blogs will recieve a new student blogger building on those who've gone before.

So my question(s) ---->> How do you handle student blogs from year to year? Is this a good model to follow? What drawbacks am I missing? I'm planning on setting up the blogs in the next couple of weeks, so any advice you have will be appreciated.