(1)If the court before which a prosecution is brought for an offence against section 35, 41 or 42 of this Act is satisfied that the child has failed without reasonable excuse to attend regularly at school, then, whether or not the parent is convicted, the court may direct that the case be referred to the reporter of the appropriate local authority and if so referred shall certify the said failure as a ground established for the purposes of Part III of the [1968 c. 49.] Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968; and in this subsection " local authority " has the same meaning as in the said Act of 1968.
(2)If the court before which a prosecution is brought for an offence against section 35 of this Act is satisfied that a child has failed without reasonable excuse to attend regularly at school, but does not, in the exercise of the powers conferred upon it by subsection (1) above, make a direction, the court may, if the child is still of school age, make an attendance order in respect of the child requiring the parent to cause the child to attend the public school which he has been attending or, if the child has changed his residence, a school attended by children residing in the same neighbourhood as the child; and subsections (2) and (3) of section 38 and sections 39 to 41 of this Act shall apply with any necessary modifications to an attendance order made by a court under this section as they apply to an attendance order made by an education authority.