This research reports upon the impact of two concurrent processes of Special Measures and academisation applied to a primary school in the north of England as a result of an unsatisfactory inspection by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). The aim of the study is to describe how the process of being placed in special measures, coupled with subsequent academisation, affected key "school facing" stakeholders. Data collection commenced from when the school received the judgement about its performance from Ofsted. This paper will examine the emerging themes during the first phase of the process of school transformation.