Rajani Gautum, 50, was among four workers police charged last October over allegations of excessive force on up to 20 children aged between one and four at Northside Community Service's Civic Early Childhood Centre.

Gautum initially pleaded not guilty to four common assault charges and was set to fight the allegations during a two-day hearing set down for November.

But she returned to the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday where her defence lawyer, Peter Woodhouse, indicated she would instead plead guilty to three lesser charges of unreasonable discipline.

She was not formally charged with the replacement offences and has not yet entered the pleas.

Gautum will return to court for sentencing, where she will be assisted by a Punjabi interpreter, later this month.

Another of the workers, Una Masters, 61, was handed a 12-month good behaviour order and fined $400 after she pleaded guilty to inappropriately disciplining children at the centre.

A magistrate last month dismissed unconditionally four charges of common assault against Samantha Grutzner, 30, due to mental impairment.

Jasmina Lemesh, 62, pleaded not guilty to five common assault offences and will face court for a two-day hearing in October.

Police began to probe allegations of assault after reports were made to management in April last year.

The allegations were first raised in 2014 and took some time to make their way from the centre to management.

A series of investigations were launched, and Northside Community Service said it had moved to ensure it did everything it could to avoid a repeat at any of its centres.

Update: At her hearing in October 2016, all five charges against Jasmina Lemesh were dismissed.