Police are investigating a racist recording sent to a teenage pupil at a Burnham-on-Crouch secondary school.

Officers were called in by the boy's mother after the recording was passed round pupils, via their phones, at Ormiston Rivers Academy.

The recording – which has been heard by Nub News and includes the name of the woman's son – contains racist and offensive language, including references to slavery and white supremacy.

The sound of whips can be heard cracking in the background.

It was sent to the schoolboy over WhatsApp. It was also sent to other pupils at the school.

Pupils took the recording to teachers at the academy. But the mother of the schoolboy, who wishes to remain anonymous, has now called in the police.

She told Nub News: "I sat on Saturday morning and thought to myself, how can I, as just one parent, fight a system that is broken, fractured, not working and not supporting young people?

"Within a small community, so many people are sending their children to school to be educated and they're not in a safe environment.

"I've got so many other parents behind me saying they're tired of trying to fight on their own to get justice for their children and to feel safe in this area – for them to go out and not be targeted."

The recording was shared in a pupils' WhatsApp group of which the woman's son is a member.

The mother added: "I'm going to hold my son's hand and empower him to feel that he can speak up.

"He is as important as anybody else within this school - and he has the right to an education where he feels safe and where he is treated as an individual."

A spokesperson for Essex Police confirmed that officers have the recording.

He said: "We are investigating reports of a video containing racially offensive comments or material that was sent to a child in Burnham-on-Crouch.

"It was reported to us on 11 February and our enquiries are ongoing."

A statement from Ormiston Rivers Academy said: "We have a strict zero tolerance policy for racism and discrimination of any kind at the academy and unequivocally condemn racism in all its forms.

"The wellbeing of our students is a top priority, and we work hard to foster an inclusive, safe and supporting school environment. Any actions that go against these high standards are treated extremely seriously.

"As soon as we were made aware of this incident, we took immediate action to investigate, including working with the relevant authorities, so that appropriate sanctions could be implemented to ensure it would not happen again.

"Our core values as an academy are tolerance and respect, and promoting equality and diversity sits at the heart of this.

"Educating our students on the topic of racism and inclusivity is key to our curriculum, and as such we deliver regular personal development in PSHE lessons which covers these topics, as well as frequent assemblies.

"We are establishing an anti-racism working group, which includes students, parents, staff and members of the local community.

"We encourage open dialogue at the academy and will continue to work collaboratively with our whole school community as we strive to achieve our collective goals."