There are increasing numbers of students entering Australian secondary schools whose first language is not English. Compound this with the numbers of Indigenous students who speak Creoles or who have distinct dialects, and teachers in secondary English classrooms are facing a struggle to implement the syllabus and engage students. The issue of how to assist students, especially Indigenous students, attain their academic potential and achieve good results is not new and this paper looks at how other Englishes can be used to scaffold students' learning in and understanding of Standard Australian English. This paper compares the current Australian educational context to similar situations in the United States and the United Kingdom to find the best practices for English teachers in lower secondary classrooms to utilise.