ABSTRACT
School development planning has been introduced to schools in England and Wales as a process which can be used for improving schools from within. As school development planning has progressed it has come closer to strategic planning and the time may be right for a fusing of the two processes with school development planning as the means of implementing the strategy identified by strategic planning. The essence of strategy is strategic thinking. Strategic thinking can be solely in the minds of individuals or it can be formally expounded by a strategic planning process. A strategic plan is a complex document and the form in which it is to be produced and used needs forethought. School development planning provides a process which can be used to plan systematically and implement improvements in a school. Success at school development planning alone is not enough to make the transition to strategic planning.
