I have acquired a property with a sun deck and swimming pool. The sun deck is accessible from the living room and two of the bedrooms. The pool bit is giving me some grief, because we have small children (3 and 1), and obviously there's a security issue involved. Ultimately, I may have to simply close the pool and cover it.

What's the best way to solve this security issue? Is there a way to restrict access to the pool without restricting access to the sun deck?

I had an open and accessible pool and a child. I did not restrict access in any way, but I made sure my child was never alone near the pool.

Children learn by example, so I would make sure to spend a lot of time with the children next to the pool so that they can see that you yourself are careful at the edge as opoosed just walking in. I would also take them into the water a lot to get familiar with it so they know what happens if they get water into the mouth, nose and eyes and that they will go under if you don't hold them. As a result my child was always careful when playing next to the pool. I was renting so I could not have anything else.