Setting up a pupil assement and tracking spreadsheet - how to go about it?!

Question

Hopefully somebody will be able to suggest some ideas to my problem. I am a head teacher in the UK, and want to setup an assessment and tracking spreadsheet for the children in my school. Basically I want to be able to enter a curriculum level (1 to 5), three time a year (we assess each term) and enter a final level for the year, and then based on that level a predictive level for the end of year 2 and 6 when they leave – as well as an historic graph tracking their progress whilst in the school. I need to do this for each child in school and for each of the 12 subjects (though we only need to assess some once a year). I would also like to be able to glean from this information the average maths or English level in the school for a particular year for example and be able to compare a certain child to the average. Tracking the average score for a subject from year to year would also be beneficial – as it would alert should we need to focus on any aspect of the curriculum.
Here is my basic question - Even though I am only a very small rural school – with 50 pupils – I can’t fathom a way to set this up neatly – is it possible to do this. Do I create 50 sheets – one for each child – with all subjects on that sheet, and a level for every year in that subject? Or - Do I create 12 sheets – one for each subject – and have each pupil’s name there? Or do I create a fresh document for each subject! Another problem is that I need to promote the pupils at the end of a school year to a new class – and some children will leave and others will arrive.
I guess my question is - has somebody tackled anything like this before – or is anyone willing to suggest a way of setting this up so that it is both clear and efficient.

Answer 1

Gwyn,
I am sure that the solution offered here has over simplified your situation and that the scope of your problem is far more reaching. However, I offer the following as a starting point.
We begin with a Master List in which all levels for each student and subject are listed. I assume that your term "level" indicates the measure of a student's mastery of the subject. My abbreviated table shows only three subjects.
You didn't define how final levels were determined so I just averaged the three term levels in the "Final Levels" table. These formulas are header entered and are of the form:
=IF(ISBLANK(Student),"",AVERAGE('2008-09 Master List' :: B2:D2))
Each subject calculates an average final level in the footer:
=AVERAGE('2008-09 Master List' :: English Term 1:English Term 3)
You sought an above/below average number for Math and English and these are also header entered:
=IF(ISBLANK(Student),"",English-B$11)
And finally, a "Cumulative Subject Levels" Table shows the average final score for each subject over a span of years. (='2008-09 Final Levels' :: B11). As it stands, I envision this table on a separate sheet with whatever charts you require. I also picture a separate sheet for each year.
As I said in the beginning, this is a starting point. I look forward to your response.
pw