District Courts staff say the use of new te reo Māori announcements is being assisted with a new flip card resource.

All District Court takers started using the new announcements to open and close courts on 1 February 2016 after training with a "buddy" system, audio pronunciation files and the new flip cards.

The te reo announcements have been supported by Chief Judge Jan-Marie Doogue, with guidance from Judge Taumanu, after the introduction of te reo Māori announcements in the higher courts.

The flip cards are designed to be used while taking court for judges, Justices of the Peace and community magistrates, with an easy to read English translations underneath te reo Māori phrasing.

The General Manager, District Courts, Tony Fisher, says the new announcements were a challenge for some court takers, so a buddy system was set up, along with site champions.

Site champions undertook training where they learned and developed support networks for their sites. They also planned with their court service managers and service delivery manager how the new greetings will work.

Buddies practiced the greetings with a colleague and coach each other for a few minutes a day.

"The te reo Māori announcements have been really well supported by our people. So many people volunteered to be site champions that we had to put on more training for them," Mr Fisher says.